Forever and a Day
by Winged Element
Summary: Eternity is a very long time to live, sometimes it's hell but sometimes... sometimes the possibilities are endless and you can't help but want that forever and the day after it. Drabbles after the end of the movie. MinaxVlad.
1. That Voice so Soft and Sweet

A/N: Hello! So, any of you who follow me are probably wondering, "What's Winged Element doing posting something that isn't DMC and not a crossover with it?" Well I'm going to say that I've found something else that I just can't help but write my own fanfiction to :3 To those of you who are new, hello and welcome :) Details on me and my posting habits are on my profile but this is my first fanfiction outside the realm of Devil May Cry, I just couldn't help myself… Dracula Untold was amazing and as I love writing vampires and have read the original Dracula (though I wasn't hugely fond of it, little dry for my tastes) I thought I'd give this a go. Sorry bout the long ramble, I tend to do that sometimes, I'll make up for it in the chapter :)

Disclaimer: *shakes head* I know I don't know you guys very well yet but come on, really?

That Voice So Soft and Sweet

_Bu-thump… Bu-thump…_ The noise echoed in his ears, throbbed in his teeth, he knew what was happening but didn't want to admit, even to himself, especially when his wife was kissing him so nicely, her fingers dug into his back and he pulled back; content for a moment just watching her. She was lovely, the way she tilted her head back, the way her pulse throbbed in her neck… he looked at it, could practically _see _the blood rushing through the veins… he just wanted to… he backed off the bed as quickly as he could.

"What's wrong?" she asked

"I… need some air…"

Vlad opened his eyes and saw the ceiling above him, his mind filled with images of Mirena, the day they had married, when she held Ingeres for the first time, and even in her next life when she had viewed him as a monster and he'd been pushed as closer to a true death than he'd ever been. Far closer than even that day in the sun when he'd watched his son get dragged to safety. He checked in on his decedents from time to time, it gave him something to do, something to occupy his time every ten years or so. It would have to be tonight… he would have to feed tonight… He had come to hate doing so, every time he did, he couldn't help but be reminded of that moment, that time so many many years ago that Mirena had died in his arms. And he was the one that pulled the last little bit of lifeblood from her veins… worse yet was the fact that he _enjoyed it…_ no matter how much time passed, how much he tried to drown the past in blood, that moment still came back to him when he drank, when he killed a victim… that image of his wife's body, lifeless because of _him_ would haunt him for the rest of his days…

The former prince shook his head, forcing his thoughts back to the present, the sun was still high in the sky, not that it was unusual for him to have fitful sleep, but as the years had passed the effects of the sun had waned, now it was more of an irritation than anything else, he avoided it if possible, simply for comforts sake but he could walk through a patch of sunlight without getting lit up like a torch. He looked up to the ceiling and touched his forehead in a quick prayer for the day, some habits died hard… He dressed himself and made a cup of coffee, human food did little for him but the robust smell and warmth of the drink was pleasant, not nearly as much as it was back in the day. He wished that people still knew how to make a good brew, some local bakeries weren't bad but still… He'd told Mehmed once that the only thing he missed from his childhood was the coffee, that hadn't been a lie. He grabbed the cup and took a sip, his lip curling at the weak taste in comparison to his memories, despite those very memories being hundreds of years old.

Mug in hand the vampire sat down at his laptop and waited patiently for the thing to boot up. Technology was a fascinating thing and something that Vlad tried to keep up on, but damn if it was hard, it was changing so fast. Once the internet was up and running he started checking his stocks and started his work for the day. Online work was the easiest way to keep a low profile, no one could see you or your daily actions to make judgment or question them; occasionally he'd pick up an office job or some such, just to change up the pace or for something to do but when you lived in a paid off house and didn't have to pay for food and didn't use the lights the cost of living was fairly inexpensive. Vlad tipped the mug back only to realize it was empty, today was just dull, dragging on and he'd only just gotten up. He looked outside, it was a pleasant shade of overcast and the sun was just beginning to go past its peak. Perhaps he'd make a trip downtown and see what was going on.

-Forever and a Day-

It was a fine day for a walk, the streets were bustling and despite the lack of sunshine the people seemed to be in a good mood, at least for citygoers, Vlad had long since become accustomed to the rudeness of city-folk but that didn't stop him from enjoying his own day though, he'd do his work tonight after a… well after getting a drink. He had just decided to head toward the extensive library and see if anything there tickled his fancy when he heard it… that voice… that voice so soft and sweet, exactly as he remembered… the vampire turned, hoping beyond hope…

A/N: Okay… so I may have a teensy tinsey little love of cliffhangers… heheheh… please forgive me and the next chapter will be up next week?

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	2. Eyes That Spoke of Loneliness

A/N: I've got one chapter left to type for this week… woo… gosh I really feel like I need a nap… ugh… maybe if I work hard when I get home I can take a little one before work… maybe… anywho, I'll just start that chapter now…

Guest: I typically have short chapters as I will do multiple fanfictions at a time and update them weekly (I've been busy with exams and Christmas lately) but I'm glad you do like what I have so far, thanks for the review!

Disclaimer: Dracula is far too much for any one person to own…

Eyes that Spoke Loneliness

Mina giggled at the owner of the flower shop, he was being absurd, sure she wouldn't mind a small bouquet of flowers, they were always nice and he had probably picked her to pick on because she would frequently pass by this shop and slow to check out the wares but there was no one in her tiny apartment to enjoy them aside from her cat.

"I'm sorry sir, but really…" she was about to continue jesting with the man before her when she heard someone say behind her.

"Beautiful." She turned, startled and confused, not only because someone had snuck up on her but because his voice sounded so familiar but she couldn't place where from. The owner of said voice looked at her with eyes that were filled with such loneliness that it was the first thing that she noticed. Once beyond that though, she saw a very attractive man, one that had a presence that demanded respect yet at the same time had a very warm, charismatic feel. Both seemed to realize that they were staring.

"The flowers, my lady." He corrected himself, nodding toward the stand. Mina barely heard the shop owner start speaking again.

"My lady?" she asked, struck by the old term "Where are you from?" certainly he couldn't be from here, no one here was such a gentleman.

"A long way from here." He said, a small smile on his face, as though the comment were almost funny, she couldn't help but smile back. There was a pause between them that almost stretched into the territory of awkward.

"Well goodnight," she offered, turning, a light blush on her cheeks, prepared to meet up with her friends and tell them all about Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome that she'd just met but clearly he wasn't done with her yet as he spoke up behind her again.

"Why think of this life separately from the next when one is born from the last…" she paused, stunned before turning back to him

"That's my favorite poem," she said, still surprised, what didn't surprise her is the hint of a knowing smile that graced his lips.

"It speaks to you of yearning," he said, taking a step forward "of one soul pleading for another."

"I'm Mina," she managed, still taken off guard

"Vlad." He said, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles gently. She couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips, nor could she stop looking into his eyes, those eyes just seemed _so _deep…

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, breaking her out of her trance finally. She grinned again and managed to say.

"I was just headed home," once there she was certain the first thing she'd do would be call her friends and tell them of this adventure.

"May I walk you there?" she nodded and started in the direction of her apartment building. Typically she'd be wary of letting a stranger know where she lived but there was just something about him that seemed so familiar… besides, she had many friends in the building that would let her know if he was creeping about.

"That vendor owner seemed quite adamant about getting you to buy something." Vlad said as they began walking.

"Yes, I like to stop and look often, I think he thought it was about time I bought something."

"That or he thought that a beautiful girl needed some beautiful flowers to complete her look." Mina couldn't help but laugh, he had looked so serious when he'd said it, Vlad grinned back "I'm serious." He said, though she could see the mirth in his eyes.

"Of course," she giggled "if he had truly thought that he wouldn't have been trying to charge me so much for them."

"What was he asking for?" his brows went up, seeming honestly curious

"Way too much," she said "it was absurd!"

-Forever and a Day-

The walk back to apartment was no short one but it seemed so when walking home with Vlad at her side, in fact, it felt too short. Before she knew it they were at the complex entryway and she was bidding him farewell.

"Will I… see you again?" she asked, not wanting to seem too eager, for as much as she felt like he was familiar, he was still a stranger to her.

"If you want to." He said before digging around in his pockets to produce a scrap of paper and a pen. He held it against the doorframe and scrawled his phone number on it before handing it back to her.

"It was nice meeting you." She said and he smiled and kissed her hand once more.

"Likewise." With that he was gone, heading back down the street and perhaps she was kidding herself but she could've sworn she heard him whistling. She looked at the paper, one side was his number, she flipped it over and saw a short list. Mina giggled as she realized the man had accidentally given her his grocery list when he was fumbling for paper. She shook her head and headed up to her apartment to text him and tell him what he was missing.

A/N: So… I'm totally making a good second impression ^^; I swear I'm normally not this bad when it comes to updates, please take my word for it, I'll be better in the future ^^;

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	3. A Laugh to Remember

A/N: Here we go, I'm typing this chapter right after I finished the last one so now I can update on time for this week too! Yay! I hope you guys enjoy how this is going so far, especially because it's my first time outside of Devil May Cry's archives… yeah I might have a minor obsession with that series… if you have a playstation or xbox I recommend you play them (old ones, not the shitty reboot). Anywho, free advertising for Capcom aside, I'll start that chapter now.

Disclaimer: To be honest I don't really know how the rights to Dracula go… so… yeah

Drakire: don't worry! I'll keep going! Thanks for the review!

A Laugh to Remember

The rest of Vlad's night passed in a blissful blur, he texted with Mina for a while, a feature on his phone that he was still becoming accustomed to. He knew that if he could still blush he would've been when she first messaged him telling him that he'd accidentally given her his grocery list. He'd been in such a hurry to give her a number that he hadn't looked at the paper he'd written it on. Sure it was an embarrassment but he could tell that she was amused by the whole scenario. Not that he could blame her, he would be too if he were in her shoes. He sat back in his chair, the book in his lap all but forgotten as he went over the memories again and again. He had found his love again and she had smiled and welcomed his presence, instead of being guarded and wary as she had been in the last life upon finding out his identity. He'd forgotten how much he loved her laugh, ah her laugh… it was something that he burned into his memory once again, it was beautiful and full of life, it brought back memories of days spent on horseback, out for a picnic, of playful chases and of silly comments made about some of Transylvania's nobles. He remembered the bliss of their wedding day and when she had told him that she was expecting his first child. The vampire smiled at these memories, he was determined in this life not to mess things up again, not to be her downfall once more, this life would be filled with many more smiles and laughter than he'd ever been able to provide before, he was determined to make it so.

The smile slipped slightly from his face, as he had not been unaware of the monster lurking behind them in the market place, he had disappeared shortly after they left the main streets of town but still his presence unnerved Vlad. It wasn't the first time the man had shown up, he seemed to get a kick out of showing up just long enough to remind the other vampire of his existence and then disappear, just to keep Vlad's stress levels up. He knew he'd show up and speak with him, he generally did, reminding the former prince of his promise and that someday he'd come to collect. It was something that Vlad wished would happen so that he could be free of his shackles, he didn't regret the promise, it had kept his country together in a time of need, he had wished it had gone down differently but failed to see how that really could've happened.

He'd gone over the contract again and again in his mind but couldn't find a loophole, just as he'd gone over the battles that took place afterward again and again but didn't see many alternatives to what had happened, there were a few lives here and there he felt he could've saved, and perhaps he should've known that Mehmed would use a decoy but the Sultan would've found another way to trick him, the man was as clever as a serpent.

Vlad shook his head, trying to rid it of the memories but it didn't make much difference at this point, ridding of them made him think of Mina which made him think of his current state of being, which of course, led his mind right back to the past and the moment he had accepted the old vampire's blood. He closed his eyes, the memory becoming as clear as day.

He remembered the thick cloying taste as he swallowed the blood that would alter the course of his fate forever. The sound of the shudder the old vampire gave when he did. The effects he began feeling were immediate, he wanted to choke on the substance, and he began to feel weak, dizzy…

"What now…?" he managed after tossing the broken skull to the side.

"Now… you die." The monster said walking away from him and at that moment Vlad was sure that he'd been tricked, that the monster was simply going to devour him and that his kingdom was doomed. He slipped and fell, feeling his body convulse and darkness overwhelmed his mind.

He remembered the strange vision that had plagued his dream, at the time he hadn't understood it but now knew that it was a glimpse into his future, if only he had known, he would've paid more heed to the warnings it gave. The next thing he knew he was waking up in the creek the flowed away from the mountain, feeling things he never thought possible and now took as a part of everyday life. Vlad shook his head and opened his eyes, how young and foolish he'd been back then, but then again, not many got the opportunity to live for as long as he had…

"Nor will many others." The voice came from his balcony and Vlad shot to his feet, fangs bared at the man who had made him into the monster he was today.

A/N: Dun Dun Duuuunnnnn! I like cliffhangers :3 A lot… they're my friend :3 anywho, thanks so much for reading and following me on this adventure!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	4. A Look of Fear

A/N: Hey! So I'm not too happy at the moment, I just dropped my pill and couldn't find it *grumbled irritatedly* but either way, this is the last fanfiction chapter I have to type tonight and the tomorrow I have my interview to see if I'm worthy to study abroad :S I'm so nervous, it's kind of just hitting me that I very well might get to attend Nihon University this summer… O.o it's kind of mind-blowing, it shouldn't be, I have readers from all over the world so going somewhere outside the United States shouldn't seem that crazy but… it does…

Disclaimer: I can't even claim having to been to Canada and I live in Michigan, what makes you think that I can claim Dracula?

A Look of Fear

Mina was excited to see Vlad again, this time was a date, or so that's what she told herself, they had never exactly specified what it was. They were meeting at a quaint little coffee shop that Mina had visited several times before, it was a fine place for a date, or so all of her friends had said despite her interruptions that he hadn't officially asked her out.

"He was… I don't know, it felt almost like I had known him somehow, he seemed so familiar." She remembered saying to a rather excited Rebecca. Jackie jumped in at that point.

"Maybe you were lovers in a past life." She said with waggling eyebrows, Mina laughed at the suggestion

"Right, that would explain everything," she giggled "before I know it I'll be remembering our wedding and speaking some foreign language."

"And the two of us will kindly escort you to the loonie bin." Rebecca said, trying not to laugh at Mina's crazy facial expressions.

"But I do honestly think it's wonderful that you found someone, especially one who gets the lovely title of Tall Dark and Handsome." Jackie seemed genuinely pleased, she was always happy when Mina seemed to show any interest at all in a man, it was a rare occurrence and she would bet her right hand that it had never been this high before as her friend drifted from guy to guy, never really getting serious with any one of them.

"I might finally get to be an Aunt." Rebecca giggled, nudging Mina in the side, who promptly nudged back.

"Oh stop it Rebecca, we didn't talk for long, besides tomorrow's not even officially a date." She said, though her cheeks lit up at the idea of seeing Vlad again.

"You like him though! Oh this is so exciting! My big sis is finally showing some interest in a man!" Mina blushed further.

"That's quite enough out of you two," she grumbled, picking up the dishes from dinner and depositing them in the sink. "are you done mooching off of your neighbor now?" the other two women simply laughed and began wishing their goodbyes as they headed out.

That was all last night, now it was the next day and Mina was off to meet Vlad again, her heart fluttering more nervously than she could ever remember it doing before any real date. This was a simple meeting, why was she so nervous? She approached the coffee shop slowly, what if he didn't show? She looked at her phone, she was quite early but when she looked up again, there he was, standing as though he'd always been there waiting for her.

"Vlad!" she said excitedly, then tried to reign in her excitement, she didn't want to scare him away with her eagerness.

"Mina," he grinned but she noticed something in his eyes, something that she felt she shouldn't have noticed in the eyes of someone that she had just met but… he just seemed so easy to read.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her brows tilting upward, a brief flash of surprise crossed his face before he said

"It's not something that should worry you, I swear, it's nothing much." He smiled again and pulled the door to the café open for her. She grinned, trying to push the matter from her mind but something about his expression kept it nestled in the back of her thoughts… she'd ask again later. Once they were seated with their drinks Mina asked

"Did I miss anything from your list?" Vlad paused, a sheepish look crossing his face

"No, ah… thanks though, I'm sorry that I accidentally handed it to you."

"It's no big deal, it gave me a very good excuse to text you right away, besides, seeing you scramble for something to write on was rather cute." She paused, had she really just said that? Vlad grinned, not seeming to mind the offhand compliment. Mina noticed that he hadn't touched his coffee much

"Not much of a coffee guy?" she asked, nodding toward the mug, Vlad looked down at it, swirling it around the cup

"I just don't care for it much here."

"Really? This is probably my favorite shop," she looked around the store before back to the dark haired man before her. "Okay then Mr. Coffee Connoisseur, where's the best coffee from?"

"Turkey." He replied without missing a beat.

"Turkey? Really?" she asked with a raised brow. He nodded, taking a sip from the mug in front of him before adding a splash of cream, stirring with a spoon.

"It was the first time I'd ever had coffee and still to this day it's the best I've ever tasted." He stated as though this should be obvious fact.

"The first time? That must've been a long time ago." Mina said, recalling the first time she'd tasted the bitter substance and become a regular drinker, it must've been early high school at the latest…

"Yes, indeed it was."

A/N: Heheh, inside joke between Vlad and himself, heheh… anywho, all the coffee references go back to his comment to Mehmed about the only thing he missed was the coffee in case you've forgotten :)

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	5. The Way She Smiles

A/N: Hey guys, I know it's been a while, and I'm realizing I typed this exact sentence earlier when starting Wrinkle in Time… well… okay then! Moving on! Yeah, I've been busy with school and getting all my stuff set up for Tokyo, I'm officially going now! How cool is that?! I get to study in a foreign country for about three months! You guys will get little updates through my A/Ns I'm sure ^^; I'll probably put stuff up on my Deviantart too :)

Disclaimer: What kind of person do you think I am? Really I'm flattered that you think so but alas I do not own Dracula in any way shape or form.

The Way She Smiles

Talking with Mina in the coffee shop took the troubles from Vlad's mind and made them little more than dust in the wind. He couldn't help but smile when he was around her and her smile warmed his heart, it was the same smile that his Mirena had given him all those times all that time ago. When it came to his past he tried to be as honest as he could be, only modifying things to fit the current times.

He told her that he went to a boarding school which is why he had been away from home, rather than being taken. That he had served in the military, not that he had been a child soldier who had committed what were still considered some of the worst war crimes of history. Though he didn't speak of Mirena, or Ingress, still, despite how long it had been, it hurt him to talk of them. Besides, it seemed strange to speak of Mirena when her reincarnate sat before him, of that much he was sure.

"Vlad?" she asked, snapping the man from his thoughts, it seemed that these days, with so many years beneath his belt that he got stuck in his thoughts and memories more and more often. He blamed old age.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking down at his now empty mug, were he still human he would have been blushing.

"Don't worry about it, did you want to get something to eat?" she asked, smiling softly. Still that smile was something that never changed, despite all the years… never.

"Do you?" he asked, he could eat sure, but his body didn't need it, and certainly didn't like it.

"Oh don't be one of those guys." Mina said, laughing

"Those guys?" he was honestly confused

"Y'know, those guys who always put it on the girl to decide when to eat and what."

"O-oh, I just didn't know if you were hungry, that's why I asked." She laughed at his confused expression.

"I see, you're just going to play it off, well then, because you asked, yes, I am hungry."

"Well then," Vlad stood with a grin and gestured to the café's counter. "we best get something to eat then."

-Forever and a Day-

That evening found Vlad sitting at home, thinking back to his past, and his very recent past at that. He ran over the day he'd had with Mina over and over again, unable to help himself, it excited him to no end to be able to see her again, to hear her, to just be in her presence. Those thoughts led him back to seeing the Master again the night previous, to the words spoken between the two of them.

"The time is nearly upon us my pawn."

"I am nobody's pawn." Vlad had spat back at the man, rage fueling his actions. How dare he show up now? Right after he'd found Mirena again?

"Ah, but the darkness had long since claimed you my little prince. How long do you think things can last between you and the human woman?"

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her!" Vlad shouted, taking a step forward, eyes alight and fangs bared.

"Why would I do that?" the man asked, raising a thin brow, his hair was still thin, despite centuries among the human world and in the light. Vlad growled deep in his chest, the sound so animal it had nearly startled him when he had first turned, now it was simply a part of him, like his laugh or voice.

"When it is so entertaining to see you tear things apart yourself?" the ancient one continued, his grin was something that could only be described as evil.

"I would never hurt her." Vlad said adamantly, fists clenched at his sides.

"Isn't that what you said the first time?" the vampire questioned with a deep chuckle, disappearing without a trace, leaving Vlad to question his words. And still he questioned them, to this very moment, sitting in his chair, remembering his date with Mina.

"I won't hurt her," he reaffirmed to himself, but even as he said this, he had his doubts, he remembered the battle all those years ago and the choice that he had had to make, to sacrifice his wife so that his people might live. Not many had and perhaps had things gone differently she would have lived but what was that saying now? The past is 20/20 and there was nothing that could be done to change it… That was why Vlad was determined to not mess things up this time around, he would protect little Mina, if it was the last thing he did.

A/N: Hey guys, I know, I know, this is a really short chapter but it's better than not posting at all isn't it? And honestly at the moment I really want to go to bed, I have an early day tomorrow and my sleep schedule is still really fucked up from spring break… yeah, anyway, thanks bunches and as always

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	6. The Way He Held Himself

A/N: Hey everyone, I'm currently sitting in the Geophysics building and waiting for the Parkview bus but you know what? I don't care, I'm always typing in really weird places so whatever, I'm listening to Panic! At the Disco and trying to keep my pep cause I'm gonna need… it's St Patty's day and I'm working tonight ^^; Also my boyfriend is sitting next to me being adorably sleepy :p

Disclaimer: You people! Really! No!

The Way He Held Himself

Mina sighed, laying back on her bed, trying to relax and wake up after a day that seemed more like a dream than reality. She couldn't believe the way that yesterday had flown by, Vlad was just such an easy person to hang around, it took practically no effort, the conversation had gone smoothly, no awkward bumps or pauses, it was like they had known each other for years rather than a couple days. The blonde remembered the way that he had looked originally though, drawn and tired and as though the weight of the world rested upon his shoulders. It bothered her that a man so young could look so… well so old. Not in physical appearance, no certainly not but definitely in his eyes, his eyes were very, very old. She had tried to get him to tell her what was wrong yesterday but to no avail, he'd changed the topic and avoided it, not that Mina felt that she had the right to demand answers from him, to be fair they _had _only just met. Perhaps she should text him… she thought to herself but… they had texted mildly last night and she didn't want to appear clingy. Mina sighed again and sat up, first things first she should get out of bed and putter around the house, there were so many things that she _should _do, she didn't have to work today and it was the perfect opportunity to tidy up her place and make sure she had groceries and laundry for the week but on the other hand… her bed looked _so _inviting.

"Half an hour." She reasoned with herself, grabbing her book from her nightstand and snuggling amongst the cozy pillows.

Half an hour stretched to far more time than that and it wasn't until well into the afternoon that Mina found herself cleaning the kitchen and making sure that nothing was in her fridge that would spoil within the next few days when she found a box of strawberries that her sister had given to her a couple days prior. That was when she was struck with an idea and pulled out her phone to call Vlad.

"…Hello…?" his voice was soft and groggy sounding with an accent that Mina hadn't noticed before.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked, looking at the clock to see that it was well past any time that someone should be sleeping

"It's fine," he said, that rich accent still very much present in his voice. "I was about to get up anyway." Mina laughed lightly, she was sure that that was why he was still asleep in the late afternoon.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd care to join me at my place for dinner tonight, I have a lot of food in my fridge that I can't possibly eat entirely on my own and it'd be nice if you'd join me."

"I'd love to but…"

"It's fine if you can't, I just would like it."

"I don't know where you live. Not exactly anyway." Vlad cut off her conclusions and suddenly Mina felt very embarrassed of herself, she normally wasn't so flustered with guys, this was something that was exclusive to Vlad and she wasn't sure if she liked it, it certainly made her feel like a little girl again but that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"Right…" she said, sure that he could she was blushing from all the way over from where he was. She quickly rattled off her address, mostly the apartment number before saying that she'd see him in a couple hours. After he hung up she just sat for a moment, trying to collect herself before flying into action, making sure that everything was cleaned up and set up for when he got here.

-Forever and a Day-

It wasn't quite a couple hours later that Vlad showed up, now looking awake and as though he hadn't been sleeping a few scant hours earlier. Mina greeted him with a smile and invited him to join her inside. Once settled with dinner she said

"You have an accent, I didn't notice it until I called you today, you're not originally from England are you?" Vlad blinked, surprised, he was usually very careful with his words.

"No, I'm not, I'm from Romania originally, but it's been a long time since I've been home, I thought most of my accent had faded away."

"I had just woken you up. Speaking of which, why were you still sleeping at that hour?" Vlad grinned at her and she felt her cheeks slowly start to heat up.

"I had a rather trying call with one of my coworkers, I work for an online company so I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home but sometimes it causes for more problems than it fixes. I was taking a nap." Mina giggled

"I thought maybe you were one of those people who would sleep all hours of the day." The expression in Vlad's eyes at this comment was unreadable, but Mina thought she might have seen a dash of amusement in those eyes. They ate in silence for a few moments before Mina piped up again.

"You said you grew up in Romania? What was that like?" Vlad's eyes grew hard and the blonde wondered what on earth it was that she said

"My childhood was… interesting."

A/N: Heheh, Vlad how are you going to weasel your way out of this one? And can you keep your stories straight?

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	7. Her Intuition

A/N: Hey guys, again, woo, third week in a row! I'm on a roll! Yay! I'm also super happy cause I just got done typing another chapter of Wrinkle in Time and they're headed into the start of DMC1 and for those of you who don't know my other works and don't know DMC, you have no idea what I just prattled on about… ^^; oh well! I'm going to type this chapter now!

Disclaimer: I has cold, I has no motivation to write disclaimer…

Her Intuition

Vlad had nearly forgotten how intuitive Mina could be, it was very frustrating as well as very endearing. On one hand it showed how much attention she paid to him, even in a new life and despite not knowing him very well but at the same time Vlad didn't think he wanted to reveal the entirety of his life to her yet, she wasn't ready for a stranger that she had just met to tell her that he was an immortal vampire who had known her in past lives.

"As I told you before, I went to boarding school from a fairly early age so I didn't see my parents much, my mother passed away when I was barely a teenager, my father looked after me after that."

"You don't seem to speak of him as though you particularly liked him." Mina said with a raised brow. She then seemed to realize what she'd said

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's quite alright." Vlad interrupted her "He and I didn't agree on many, many things, one of them being how I led my life. I wish things could have been different but he passed away a few years back now."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't feel too bad, it was his time, he was old." Vlad couldn't help but think back to the moment that he had impaled the man, seeing the surprise on his face, the horror that his own son would be his death, just when all of eternity had stretched before him as well.

"Still…" the vampire waved his hand as if pushing the conversation to the side.

"Let's get off of such dreary topics, what about your family, are they from around here?"

"Yes, actually, they are, well not here exactly, they have a small house in the country."

"They must be lovely," Vlad said with a grin, Mina laughed

"They would love to hear you say that, no actually they keep pestering me about finding the right man because they've finally accepted the fact that my sister isn't going to be giving them any grandchildren."

"And why is that?"

"My sister lives with her girlfriend across the hall, it came as quite the surprise to all of us when my best friend and my sister started dating, even themselves I think." The Romanian laughed, he could see the situation playing out in his head.

"Why doesn't that mean they couldn't have children though?" he asked in all seriousness, "There's all kinds of options out there." Mina nodded, still smiling at her memories of her sister and best friend awkwardly coming out to them.

"I think when my parents think about having grandchildren they mean being with one of us just after giving birth and holding a newborn in their arms again. Don't get me wrong they would love an adopted child to death and he or she would be just as much a part of the family but that's definitely a long way down the road for my sister and they just want…"

"A grandchild of their own." Vlad remembered his father's eyes when Ingeras had been born and his heart sank at the thought that he would never get to have that feeling for himself.

"Yeah…"

"So you have a sister?" he asked, mostly to keep his own mind from the topic of his immortality.

"I do, her name is Rebecca and trust me, she's quite the goofball, I'm actually surprised that she hasn't stopped by for some reason or another yet, she does that a lot…"

"You two are close." Vlad said with a grin

"Yes, I feel pretty lucky, she and I have a lot of common ground, that and I don't have to worry about her stealing my dates." She giggled and Vlad couldn't help but stare a little bit, even when she quit giggling and noticed his stare. Oh how he had missed her. He reached out a hand and put it on her cheek, he could hear her heartbeat increase rapidly at the gesture and her breath quickened. He leaned forward, slowly, a bit hesitant, it had been so very long since he'd felt her lips on his… She was the one that closed the gap, their lips connected for a moment before they parted, looking into each other's eyes. Her pupils were dilated hugely and he couldn't help but remember that same look on their wedding night.

"Oh I've missed you my angel…" he whispered, about to kiss her again when there came a knock at the door.

"Dammit…" Mina groaned, hanging her head "speak of the devil…" she sighed and stood to answer the door, leaving Vlad realizing the mistake that he'd spoken aloud and praying that she hadn't heard his words.

"Hey Rebecca," she said and Vlad stood to see the person standing in the doorway. She looked a lot like Mina, though shorter and a little stockier, her hair just as short and spiked up crazily. He saw her glance between the two of them.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" she wiggled her eyebrows in such a goofy way that Vlad couldn't help the snicker that escaped his throat.

"…no…"

A/N: Slightly awkward place to leave off but hey, whatever, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter :) And I apologize for the interruption to their moment but… it was just begging to happen, I couldn't help myself…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	8. His Secrets

A/N: Hey guys, typing on the bus again… here we go. Ugh, I have so much shit to do today, it's absolutely insane… circuits and chem and physics and more circuits and more chem cause labs… but I can't do much about those here on the bus as 90 percent of them are online so I'm going to have a few relaxing minutes and type some fanfiction. *nods* yup.

Disclaimer: Did I do one of these yesterday? Hmm… I don't remember and I forgot to look while I was poking about last chapter… oh well. I hope you guys get it now.

Pam: I liked writing that moment quite a bit too, I wish Rebecca didn't have to show up either :p Thanks for the review!

His Secrets

To say that Mina was disappointed that her sister showed up at that exact moment would be a huge understatement, she was about ready to conk her sister on the head and turn her back out the door but she couldn't do that, especially now that Vlad was looking curiously at Rebecca from over her shoulder.

"Hey Rebecca, this is Vlad, the guy I was telling you about." Mina said, sounding embarrassed and mildly irritated at the same time.

"Hmm…" Rebecca stepped into the room, around her sister and walked around Vlad, eyeing him up and down. Vlad watched her, and Mina couldn't help but smile at the exchange, they just looked so absurd. "Hmm." Rebecca said again, stepping back and tilting her head.

"I approve." She nodded, turning to her sister who simple raised a brow.

"Do you?" Mina asked with a sly grin.

"You weren't kidding about the tall dark and handsome bit. Damn! If I weren't a skirt chaser I'd be after a piece of that myself!" Mina blushed furiously at her words, why on earth did her sister have to have such a big mouth?! Vlad simply raised a brow and grinned, Mina could tell he was on the verge of laughing but didn't want to appear rude. Rebecca walked up to Vlad and offered a hand.

"I'm Rebecca by the way." She said

"Vlad." He took her hand with a smile. That smile made Mina think back to a few moments before when they had shared their first kiss. And what a kiss it had been… It was something that she would like to continue should her sister leave in a reasonable amount of time. These thoughts led back to what he had said just afterward, it had been little more than a whisper, but passionate and loving. What exactly had he meant by that? Her sister addressing her pulled her away from such thoughts though and she didn't have any more time to dwell on it until she left some time later that night.

"Thanks so much Mina, and you too Vlad! I hope that we'll see you two for dinner on Thursday?"

"Of course." Vlad said with a smile and the younger sister grinned cheekily

"You two try to stay out of trouble now." She winked and closed the door behind her, leaving the pair alone once more.

"I'm sorry about that." Mina said with a sigh.

"Don't worry, she seems nice and her intentions are good, even if she is a little up front about things." Mina laughed at the almost embarrassed look on Vlad's face.

"Yeah, she's always been like that, it grows on you though." Vlad chuckled and shook his head, leaning back on the couch. Mina was once again struck by how _attractive_ he was, it was borderline ridiculous and she couldn't help but lean forward and run a hand down his cheek, just to make sure that he was real. She could feel the beginnings of rough stubble rub her hand as he turned his head, placing a hand over hers.

"I see I'm not the only one who's missing what we started earlier." He said with a grin. Mina frowned slightly at his words.

"Yeah, speaking of that… what did you mean, you miss me?" Vlad paused

"I… I'm not sure, sometimes I say things, and they don't always mean anything." Mina could tell that he was lying, how, she wasn't really sure but it definitely wasn't the truth. She had seen the honesty in his eyes when he'd told her that he'd missed her and could practically _feel _the pain behind his words.

"Those ones definitely meant something." She said, curious as to what this man was hiding. She had to remind herself that she'd only met him a few days ago. It wasn't as if they were an official couple or even remotely close right now. He was bound to have secrets and she barely knew him, there had to be some that he wasn't ready to share but at the same time she couldn't help but push a little bit.

"Perhaps their meaning is meant to evade you for a bit." He said, his eyes dark. They held such mystery, those dark eyes. Mina couldn't wait to unlock the secrets that they held.

"Perhaps…" she repeated before looking at the clock. "Oh wow! I didn't realize how late it's gotten." Vlad looked up as well

"Do you need me to leave?" he asked

"No! No, I was just surprised, that's all." She said, but Vlad seemed to sense the urgency that had spread in her mind.

"I'll take my leave, I'm busy tomorrow, but I will see you the day after if you aren't busy?" he asked

"Yeah, that works for me." Mina said, standing as her guest did and walking to the door.

"Well until we meet again," he said, lifting her hand and pressing his lips gently to her knuckles before turning and walking out the door. When it closed Mina let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. What a man… she thought to herself, shaking her head and running a hand through her hair.

A/N: I don't know why but that chapter felt awfully awkward… what do you guys think? Either way,

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	9. A Kiss to Remember

A/N: I only have a few minutes to get this started here this morning but I'm gonna start now and keep going on the bus on the way to class today. It gives me something to do at the very least. At the moment, I'm sitting with a bit of a dilemma, I have two exams and a test next week but I also have tickets for Midwest Media Expo this weekend, I'm not sure if I should go or I should stay home so I can study… Either way, this chapter won't be posted until it's all over so… *sighs* I'm going to shut up and type some fanfiction now…

Disclaimer: Still not cool enough to own Dracula, never will be, sorry

A Kiss so Familiar

Vlad sighed upon returning home, the dinner with Rebecca and Jessica had been lovely but the vampire wasn't accustomed to having such interactions with people anymore, let alone on such a regular basis. This was the second time that he'd eaten with the young couple with Mina and the second time was just as pleasant as the first. Rebecca was a little bit… well forward and Vlad couldn't help but be entertained by her comments and the way that Mina blushed at them. They had been dating for only a short while now, granted it had taken him a couple weeks to work up the courage to ask her out. It didn't matter that he was hundreds of years old, asking girls out didn't get any easier and he was sure that it never would. The vampire smiled and pressed a couple fingers to his lips, remembering the feel of hers on his, her kiss was so similar, so familiar yet slightly different and Vlad could feel himself falling in love with her all over again.

His stomach flipped and turned and he winced, he could eat human food, sure but too much of it was never a good thing. He had planned on feeding tonight but now, now he wasn't so sure that it was a good idea, just like with any human being, it wasn't a good idea to eat when your stomach was upset. He sighed and sat down on his couch, running his hands through his hair and taking a deep breath when his stomach turned again. He wasn't so oblivious to not notice the presence in his room.

"Leave me alone." He growled, sitting up to see the Master standing there, looking smug and full of himself, just as always. Even when he'd met the monster for the first time within the cave on Broken Tooth mountain, he'd still been pompous and full of himself in a way that the former prince couldn't believe for a monster confined to a single cave.

"Are you having fun playing at being human?" he asked with a sneer. It reminded Vlad of the rabid wolves of his homeland, crazy and viscous.

"What do you want?" he tried. Gritting his teeth while trying to appear menacing in front of the man who'd made him into the monster that he was today.

"Haven't you learned little prince? History will inevitably repeat itself, you will destroy her and any chance she had at a normal life."

"History will only repeat itself for fools who do not learn from the past." The younger vampire growled. He would make things right this time around for Mina, he'd sworn it before and he'd do it again, a million times over, he didn't think his heart could take losing her again, not this time…

"Who's to say that you aren't a fool?" the Master said and Vlad snarled, baring his fangs. The Master merely grinned and said

"I look forward to seeing you make your moves." With that he was gone, Vlad let out a low growl

"Damn bastard…" His phone rang, pulling him from his thoughts of ripping the ancient's throat out in rage and relishing in the bloodshed.

"Hello?" he was still seething, not having bothered looking at the caller id before answering and didn't think about the anger still thick in his voice.

"Vlad?" Mina sounded surprised and the former prince nearly cursed, he needed to get control of himself, the Master showing up again didn't mean anything, the older vampire was just messing with his mind, it wasn't anything to get worked up over. The monster had a habit of showing up whenever Vlad was sure happiness was within his grasp.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly, he could practically see the confused and surprised expression on her face.

"It's quite alright, I just wanted to tell you that you left the leftovers that Rebecca grabbed for you over here." The vampire sighed, he was hoping that it wouldn't be noticed, he would've felt bad just throwing them away…

"Right, I'm sorry, I'll get them from you next time I see you." He said

"If I don't eat them first." She teased and Vlad grinned, she always knew what to say to make him feel better.

"I'm sorry I left in such a hurry, my stomach felt a little unsettled." The vampire explained truthfully.

"I knew I should've told Rebecca to not try that new dessert out, she never was very good with desserts..." Mina muttered, mostly to herself.

"No, no, it's not her fault." Vlad reassured the young woman. "My stomach can be… picky, about what I eat." He said hesitantly. His thirst was acting up in tiny flares but the churning of his stomach quickly squashed those desires.

"You poor delicate flower." Mina said, sarcasm oozing behind her words. Vlad chuckled, if only she knew…

"That's me," he said, shaking his head. If only she knew…

A/N: Hey! One thing done! Only a shitton of stuff left to do! But I'm making progress! Sorry about the slight shortness, it was just a really really nice place to leave off and so that's what I did. Anywho as always,

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	10. A Look of Doubt

A/N: Hey everybody, I know it's been a really really long time, this is in fact the longest I have ever gone without updating a fanfiction. I mostly just have excuses but I feel that they're pretty good excuses as I was living on the other side of the world, learning a new language and experiencing a different culture. Aka, I was living in Tokyo, Japan. I intend to put stuff on Deviantart eventually but that time is not now, got a bit too much going on as is. Either way, I'll reply to reviews then shut up and get on with this whole thing.

Disclaimer: I own a copy of Dracula?

Mndbndr: Sorry for the lateness! I like their conversations too, they're fun to write :) Thanks for the review!

Liz Villa: Sorry for the lateness! Hahaha, I'm probably good at it because I'm an engineer, I am sooooo familiar with awkward. And no, I can't imagine it gets easier :p Thanks for the review!

Karasu: I am sooo sorry for how late this is! I'm glad you like it though! Usually the short chapters are so I can update more frequently but well… see above. At least I'm writing more now? Thanks for the review!

A Look of Doubt

Mina shook her head as she got off the phone, she liked Vlad, perhaps even loved him, a small part of her mind conceded, but there were certainly things about him that had her questioning what he was hiding, he always seemed to dodge away from deeper questions about himself. Though some of them she noticed, he had no problem answering, what his biggest fear was, for example, he had answered that with no hesitation. But if she asked further into his childhood, his family, past lovers, he clammed up immediately. She wouldn't even have noticed him doing so if it weren't for the fact that for whatever reason, he was like an open book to her. She could tell what every twitch of his face, every inflection of his voice meant, and every time one of those questions came up he would dodge it, the corners of his eyes turning down though he would turn the conversation with a smile. She didn't get it, what was so hard to answer about his childhood or if he'd ever had any girlfriends before? The young blonde sighed, shaking her head once more. Maybe it was just an odd quirk of his to not want to talk about his family or past, she certainly had enough quirks of her own.

"He certainly dodged out quickly, is everything okay?" Rebecca asked from her couch, Mina nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't realized that her sister had snuck in, Rebecca just laughed at her reaction

"I didn't mean to scare you." She said quickly as Mina regained her breath. The blonde let out a small chuckle.

"It's fine, I just didn't know that you came back in, how long have you been there?" she asked, walking over and joining her sister on the couch.

"Long enough to hear you say I suck at making desserts." The brunette teased, pushing her sister in the shoulder, Mina laughed then

"I'm sorry, I was being honest, most of the time when you experiment with desserts it doesn't end well for anyone involved." Rebecca grinned back at the older of the two

"That's fair enough. Is Vlad okay though? He did leave awfully quickly there after dinner."

"He's fine," Mina assured, thinking back on their conversation "his stomach is just a little upset."

"Well wish him the best from me, I hope he isn't coming down with anything."

"Me too, and don't worry, I will." She said "Where's Jess?" from there conversation just picked up its normal flow and banter and the two sisters carried on.

-Forever and a Day-

The following day Mina was walking out of the theater with Vlad and they were chuckling about the antics of the movie

"And when he said he had to go back for the…" Mina couldn't finish her statement, she trailed off into giggles. Vlad was also grinning from ear to ear

"That might've been my favorite part." He said, shaking his head at the same time.

"Mine was definitely the bit with the driving range." Mina said, still giggling, the memory itself causing her to laugh more. When she finally collected herself enough she said "Aw man, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much, I don't think I've laughed that hard in ages."

"I don't think I have either." Vlad chuckled, the young blonde looked at her partner, she liked it when Vlad laughed, it made him look younger somehow. He certainly wasn't old, but something in his eyes, some depth to them made him look like he had seen the rise and fall of an age.

"Do you want to come back to my place?" she asked, the sun was just starting to dip below the horizon from its hiding place behind the clouds.

"I wish I could but I have… other matters to attend to." His hesitation caused her to raise a brow

"At this time of night?" Mina knew she should just let it drop, that he had no reason to deceive her but she couldn't help but doubt his words, something in the way he said it.

"Yes, I have to do a video conference with a coworker from Tokyo, the time difference makes things tough." He explained quickly and she immediately felt bad for asking, it made her seem so… pushy.

"Ah." She managed, unsure of what else to say. Vlad smiled softly at her

"But tomorrow evening you could come to my place." He volunteered, Mina looked at him, she had yet to be to Vlad's home

"That would be wonderful."

A/N: I know, I know, this chapter is a lot of filler, but I like alternating POV from chapter to chapter and it was Mina's turn so… also, starting to set up for something big :) super stoked :3

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	11. A Thirst that Bites

A/N: Couple weeks off but I'm back, I had Youma and con fever's got me bad, I just wanna go back… can it be Midwest Media Expo yet? *sighs* ugh… it's just so much better than doing homework all the time… which is what I do… that and work… but I do potentially have a co-op with Denso coming up *fingers crossed*

Disclaimer: I have none.

A Thirst that Bites

Vlad took a deep breath when he closed the door behind himself, it had been a long time since he'd abstained for so long… he'd just been so busy… he smiled to himself and shook his head, he was acting like a lovestruck fool. It made him feel young again, he hadn't realized how much he'd missed this feeling until Mina had shown up again. The last time had been filled with pain and loss and hurt and her fear but now… now was much like the first time that they had met, when their days had consisted of picnics and horseback rides through the cold Wallachian countryside and bright warm laughter. Oh how she had warmed his cold heart, at that time he had been a broken man, a warrior with nothing left to fight, a man who had committed atrocities to save the majority. And she… she had helped him heal… Now she did much the same thing, saving him from the pain of eternity…

Though at the moment the cold burn in his chest reminded him of that very eternity, calling on his more bestial nature, the monster that lurked behind the face of a prince. Vlad growled deep in his throat, pulling off his nice shirt rather violently, almost nulling the point of changing it by nearly tearing it and pulling on an old sweatshirt, nothing that would cause him to stand out should he be spotted… not that he intended to be, he grinned evily and opened the window, disappearing with a flutter of tiny wings.

It was always strange to be in this form but the former prince rather enjoyed it. The feeling of the air rushing over his wings a hundred times over, seeing from several hundred points of view rather than one. His thoughts were scattered but simple, things were uncomplicated to a bat. He came upon his intended target quickly, an old abandoned house, left in mid-construction for unknown reasons. Vlad had been scouting this place, living in a big city he had to be careful about his kills, meticulous about covering his tracks and he knew that there were a couple of heroin addicts currently squatting here. They were easy prey but the vampire had some pent up energy, the lack of kills made him antsy, he wanted them to be afraid… he came down in the overgrown lawn but on four legs instead of two… and lifted his head to the stars, letting out a long howl, alerting his fellow predators of his hunt. Sharp ear picked up the yips of a couple of mangy street foxes and a bark or two of a local dog that had avoided the pound. In addition the startled surprise of his prey waking.

"Shit was that a wolf?!"he heard one voice say, there was a couple of thuds and another voice

"Dipshit, there's no wolves in London." Vlad yipped and whined, intent on playing with his food, his maw relaxing into a wolfish grin as several bangs emanated from the house and head poked from between a tear in the tarp a flashlight clicking on in his direction. The vampire faced the light for a moment before vanishing into the gathering fog with a flurry of wings.

"Fuck!" he heard from behind him as he materialized within the building, he grinned, feeling more monster than man at the moment as he walked over the support beams running the ceiling, his weight causing them to creak ominously. The flashlight beam swung up to illuminate the rafters and he floated away into the mist, the smell of fear striking the air and fueling his hunger. The vampire's form stepped out from the fog behind the two humans this time, letting out a low growl, his sharp eyes picking up the hairs on the back of their scrawny necks sticking up as their instincts set off blaring alarms in their heads. One of them froze and the other slowly turned around, coming face to face with a monster he had been lead to believe was the stuff of fairy tales. He screamed, the sound jolting his friend from his frozen state as he tried to bolt, Vlad grabbed him by the throat, his silence now scaring the men far more than the growl had before, the man was screaming and pleading for his life, squirming in the former prince's grip.

"Silence," the vampire whispered and the man did just that, caught in the gaze of a monster "Stand. Stand and watch." Vlad commanded, enjoying the thrill of seeing the fear in the man's eyes as he realized that he couldn't refuse. The monster turned to face the other who was slowly backing away, trembling and pupils nearly eclipsing his irises as adrenaline pumped through his system as fast as his human heart could manage.

"What…what did you do to him…?" the man choked out, Vlad grinned again, baring his hungry fangs

"I gave him a suggestion." He said, matching the man step for step as he backed up until he started to trip, turning and trying to run. The monster snarled in delight, pouncing on the man and tearing into the tender flesh of the man's neck. It was over in a flash and the vampire stood, blood that had escaped his mouth dripping off his chin and onto the ground with wet splats. He could hear the man behind him whimpering as he turned to face him. His steps were slow as he approached the man, allowing him to stare his death in its face, a monster by every definition of the word. He snarled inches from the man's face, flecks of blood and saliva spattering his cheeks as he remained glued to the spot. Vlad's eyes met the man's and he grinned, the predator delighting in the fear that filled them.

"Run."

A/N: Oh god… I haven't had this much fun with a chapter since Family of Happenstance… shiiiitt… god I'm a bit messed up huh? ^^; Next chapter is probably gonna be from Vlad's point of view too, cause I want to and I'm the writer and I can do what I want :p Man though this has my own adrenalin pumping

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	12. Haunting Enemy

A/N: Hey guys, another day another chapter right? I'm currently sitting in electromagnetic fields but… hey, I'm kinda listening okay?

Disclaimer: Still no, yet again, big surprise

Maizeee: Hahahaha, I just got your review as I started this, the chapter will be up next week, that's just how I roll :p I'm glad you liked the chapter though :) Thanks for the review!

Haunting Enemy

Vlad blinked, realizing that he was standing inside his home, coming down from the high of the hunt, from running off of adrenaline and instinct. He looked at his hands, still covered in the blood of his kill. Sometimes he expected to feel something when seeing proof of the monster he'd become but still, still it was just as when he'd been a soldier, nothing. Just… nothing. Occasionally there would be a pang of sadness for the lives lost but they were never anyone who would be missed by the rest of human society, others would fall and take their place, they always would. The former prince sighed and shook his head, there was no use in mourning them or his lost humanity. He went to his sink, trying to wash the worst of the mess from his hands as to not get it all over his house, it didn't always work but it helped, he needed to clean up before Mina visited the next day regardless.

Once showered and feeling refreshed Vlad knew that he should be going to bed but the night still felt young, he felt alive, full of energy. He sighed and sat back in one of the many lounges in his rather expansive library, pulling an old book from the shelf, it was one he had read before but it had been a long time and it was an enjoyable read. Quickly he found himself enthralled with the story captured within the pages and the hours passed steadily. Finally the thrill of fresh blood began to wear off and the vampire found his eyes drooping.

-Forever and a Day-

He was unsure of when he had actually fallen asleep but Vlad was certain that he had closed the window before he had, so why he could smell the freshly cut grass outside was a complete mystery. The vampire wrinkled his nose as he shifted and opened his eyes, he could tell that the sun was still setting, it was far too bright in the room for it not to be.

"Finally awake my young prince?" the voice was cold, but beneath the cold was a teasing, taunting tone. Immediately Vlad was perfectly alert, any trace of sleepiness completely gone.

"What are you doing here?" the younger vampire growled, sitting up straight and facing the ancient man in front of him.

"Am I not allowed to continue to check up on my fledgling?" he asked, his glossy blue eyes unfeeling and empty, not fazed by Vlad, not that the former prince expected him to be.

"You have more than I, I know you do." He said, gripping the sides of his chair tightly, trying not to damage it and failing as the wood creaked and cracked beneath his fingers.

"But you were the first, you were the one that freed me, you are the one that owes me."

"I owe you nothing."

"Oh but you do, for without me your family, your country would've fallen…"

"I lost my family all the same." Vlad snapped, standing now, fangs bared at the monster before him.

"And by your own hand no less," the master vampire grinned, enjoying the torment he inflicted upon his fledgling. He leaned forward, eyes alight now with excitement. "the time is almost upon us my fledgling." The former prince snarled and struck out at the older vampire who caught the blow with ease and flung Vlad around, pinning him to the wall by his throat.

"You do _not _threaten me, you are a pawn, a mere child of darkness, know your place." Vlad growled and continued to struggle against the other man who merely smirked and dug his claws into the fledgling's throat. Vlad choked as blood unexpectedly began to fill his throat, there was a burst of burning fiery pain in his stomach and then the master vampire was gone. He collapsed to the ground, coughing and gagging before sagging forward and deciding that closing his eyes for a few minutes while he healed was a good idea…

-Forever and a Day-

The next thing that the former prince knew someone was calling his name and touching his shoulder. He opened his eyes blearily, the past events coming back slowly. Mina was kneeling above him, fear and panic clear in her eyes.

"Vlad!" he blinked, everything coming into better focus, his injuries gone but the blood remained, soaked into the floorboards and rugs, he felt groggy and disoriented, not that he should feel any different after having a hole poked through his stomach. Suddenly the severity of the situation sank in; Mina was here. He sat up suddenly, the woman beside him jumping back in surprise.

"Mina!" he said, she looked scared but physically fine

"Vlad what happened, are you alright, I was about to call for an ambulance." She said, he noticed the phone in her hand.

"No, I'm fine, you don't need to do that." He said quickly, hospitals were a bad idea… he avoided them like the plague.

"But all the blood… what happened?" she whispered, looking at the floor around them. Vlad wracked his brain for an answer

"I must've tripped," he said, eyes catching on the china cabinet in the corner, "I was going to have a glass of wine while I read." He nearly gave up when her expression twisted into one of disappointment.

"Hmm…" was all she said, she didn't believe him, he could see it on her face but it would have to do for now. He couldn't bear to tell her the truth and see her turn away in fear.

A/N: Okay so not the greatest place to stop but I have to study now ^^; so yeah, hope you guys enjoyed!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	13. Broken Trust

A/N: One chapter down, two to go right? My class got out early and now I have a bunch of time before my next one :3 This pleases me. So now I'm sitting in my boyfriend's graphics lab, cause I'm a good girlfriend and picked up coffee on the way to the Parkview campus and now I'm gonna type some more fanfiction :3

Disclaimer: I'm sitting on an engineering campus… engineering…

Broken Trust

Mina didn't believe him, not for one moment, the liquid on the floor was most certainly blood, the metallic smell in the room proved it but here he was, saying it was wine. She wasn't angry, just disappointed, what had happened that he didn't trust her to tell her what it was? When she had first set foot in the library, she had thought that Vlad was dead, there had just been so much blood. But now that he was upright and watching her warily she could see that there wasn't a scratch on him, though it was a little hard to tell with the blood clinging to his clothes. She sighed and the tiny twitch of his cheek didn't go unnoticed by her, it was like he thought she was going to reprimand him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, she knew that he was like a vault when it came to things he didn't want to share, she'd have to be careful with this one but she couldn't just let this sit anymore.

"I'm fine." He said quietly, a hand going to his stomach which the blonde just noticed was bare, a large hole torn through his shirt.

"I suppose that happened when you fell too?" she asked flatly, she wasn't going to push for the truth but she sure as hell wasn't going to let him think that she believed his bull.

"Yes." He said rather meekly. She sighed again and stood, looking at her nice pants which now had blood soaking into the knees. Vlad followed her gaze.

"Ah… yes, um, I'll get you something to wear, I'll put them in the wash, that is, if that's okay?" there was that strange hint of an accent in his voice again, deep and smooth, Romanian, she recalled he said and she wondered if that were true. The current situation had her doubting many things that this mysterious man had told her.

"That's fine." She said, looking anywhere but in his eyes, she felt slightly betrayed and she could practically see the kicked puppy look in his eyes, she knew it was there, she didn't know how but she knew. It's like she knew this man like the back of her hand but he was a complete stranger at the same time.

"I… I'll be right back."

-Forever and a Day-

It wasn't long before Vlad returned, Mina had attempted to begin cleaning up the mess in the library while he was gone, at least as best she could with what she could find.

"Oh! Don't worry too much about it, I got it," Vlad's hand caught hers and Mina nearly jumped out of her skin, she hadn't heard him come in.

"Sorry," he apologized, releasing her arm. "I'm light on my feet." He said with a small grin, as though it were part of an elaborate joke.

"It's fine, I figured I better start cleaning it up before it completely stained the floorboards."

"I got it, there's a bathroom on the second floor, first door from the staircase, stairs are over there," he pointed and set a small pile of fabric into Mina's arms. She blinked at him and then looked in the direction he was pointing.

"Are you sure?"

"It's my mess, I'll take care of it, it'll be gone by the time you come back." She gave him a flat look of disbelief until he turned her by her shoulders.

"Go, I've got this." She glanced over her shoulder once before sighing and heading up to the bathroom. Once there she decided that a full blown shower was probably better than trying to spot clean the blood from her knees and hands. The blonde looked sadly at her shoes, they were probably ruined at this point, beyond repair and saving… she sighed again and pulled her stained clothes off and stepping into the warm spray of the shower.

Mina washed herself quickly and grabbed the clothes that Vlad had gotten for her, she had expected a pair of sweatpants that would be too big and a t-shirt. The soft gown that unfolded in her hands was definitely beyond what she thought, it was beautiful, and old. It must've been sitting in a wardrobe for years, as it had soaked up the smell of the wood, it was a pleasant, rich smell and the young woman couldn't help but holding it up to her nose and taking a deep breath before slipping it over her head.

To her surprise it fit her perfectly and if it weren't for the obvious age she would've thought that it was bought specifically for her. She looked in the mirror and almost didn't recognize herself, she felt that this was too much, too good for her to be wearing. Why did Vlad have something like this? It was just another mystery added to the man…

She went back down to the library and was shocked to find it spotless, as though nothing had ever happened, Vlad sat in a comfortable looking chair, looking cleaned up himself, reading a book.

"Finally do-…" his tease trailed off mid word as he looked up at her, and the blonde could've sworn she saw the sparkle of tears in his eyes. He quickly closed his mouth and Mina decided that whoever this dress belonged to must've been very important to him to warrant a reaction like that. She cleared her throat softly and broke eye contact

"Where do you want me to put my dirty clothes?" she asked

"I-I'll just take them." Vlad took the clothes swiftly and started to leave the room.

"Vlad?" Mina called and the man turned around, looking at her curiously

"Who did this dress belong to?" she asked and he smiled softly.

"Someone very dear to my heart." His eyes had a distant look to them

"What happened to her?"

"She died… a long time ago."

A/N: Aww, poor Vlad…. :(

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	14. Memories of Old

A/N: Hey, I'm back!

Disclaimer: Hahahahahah yeah right.

Memories of Old

Vlad's heart panged as he took the clothes to the laundry room, she had looked exactly as she had all those years ago, telling him that she loved him, sharing her world with his, it hurt to think back on as those times had ended so abruptly, he had given up his life to save his people and she had sacrificed hers so that he could. The vampire felt his throat close up as he remembered that moment, that one tiny moment that he had realized that he had no choice, that there was no other option, that he had to do it, had to kill the woman he loved. He hated himself for not being faster, stronger, able to protect her, in the end he had been too late, his anger had blinded him and he had lost her because of it. The former prince took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he looked down at the clothes in his hands, that was a long time ago, he should be focused on the woman who was here with him now, his Mina, all over again. Time had given him the opportunity to fix his mistakes, not just once but twice now. He wouldn't mess it up this time. He started the washer and sighed, turning and heading back to the library, he was sure that Mina wasn't going to let this go so easily, he could tell that she didn't believe him when it came to what had happened and he wasn't sure what to do about it, it wasn't like he could tell her the truth… The former prince sighed and shook his head, might as well face the consequences of his decisions… he headed back into the library to find Mina looking at the vast amount of books he had lining the shelves. He couldn't help but smile, she hadn't noticed him yet, too caught up in the vast amount of knowledge that surrounded her, she looked just like Mirena in that moment, curious and eager to learn. He cleared his throat lightly and she jumped, turning around, cheeks flushed red as he startled her for the second time that evening.

"Your clothes are in the wash now…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say, there was this sort of disconnect that had arisen with his lies, it was unavoidable, that much he knew but still… it hurt.

"Did you have any plans for tonight?" she asked, breaking the silence rather awkwardly. Vlad smiled sheepishly and shook his head

"I didn't get around to it, I just wanted to spend time with you. Are you hungry? I could cook something, or we could order something…"

"You can cook?" she asked and he grinned, he'd been alive for at least half a millennia now of course he could cook. He nodded and took her hand, pulling her gently toward the kitchen. Once there he opened up the fridge, looking around at it's rather meager content, he hadn't anticipated cooking a full dinner for anyone and therefore hadn't stocked up the fridge. Mina looked over his shoulder and made a hmming sound.

"Need to go shopping?" she asked and Vlad hung his head shamefully and nodded. Mina went up to the cupboard and then looked back at Vlad

"Am I okay in just digging around?"

"Yeah," he said over his shoulder, pulling frozen beef from the fridge and smelling it, debating whether it was still salvageable. Mina looked over at him and smiled, shaking a box in her hand.

"You have noodles, we could make pasta, do you have tomato sauce?" she asked, Vlad grinned sheepishly and shook his head.

"No but it's not a long trip to the store, I can go pick some up. Just let me get the water boiling."

-Forever and a Day-

A short time later and the two of them were sitting in the living room, close to the fireplace and eating. Well Mina was eating, Vlad was mostly just pushing his food around his plate, his stomach was not feeling up to eating human food, he wanted to hunt again, not that he didn't always but getting torn open like he did… the healing was taking a toll on him, on his patience, on the hunger twisting his stomach.

"Not very hungry?" Mina asked, looking at him, he smiled

"Not particularly." He said, though that wasn't necessarily true, he was always hungry, but right now he was craving something else… he leaned forward and connect his lips to hers, smirking as he heard he startled intake of breath but then she relaxed into the kiss, returning the motions and when he swiped his tongue against her lips she parted them willingly, allowing their tongues to meet, sliding smoothly against one another gently. The vampire slipped a hand around the back of her head, fingers sliding into silky hair and he leaned her back, cradling her neck so she didn't bang her head against the floor he hovered over her, their kiss having broken, and stared into her eyes. She smiled and lifted a hand, stroking down the side of his face lovingly.

"You are flawless, young," she commented, repeating the action "but your eyes look so much older than the rest of you." Vlad chuckled outwardly but he felt his body tense regardless

"Are you calling me wise?" he asked, raising a brow and kissing her cheek as to avoid meeting her eyes, he knew she could still read him like a book, though he was sure that she didn't know why.

"Perhaps." She sighed as he kissed around her jaw, unable to help himself, though he swore he would never hurt her he couldn't help but admire her neck and where pulse throbbed so strongly. Mina let out a breathy sigh, causing Vlad to continue his actions, nibbling ever so carefully on the skin along her jawbone. It was risky but he wanted to hear more of those sounds… Mina pulled him back up and into another kiss, slipping her tongue once more into his mouth and running it along his teeth, against canines that were much too sensitive and without a thought the former prince felt his fangs sneak out of their hiding places. He tried to pull away from the kiss gently, but Mina did before he could, a perplexed expression on her face.

"What was that…?"

A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit jumpy, it's been getting typed over the course of several days rather than one sitting, but hey there's a cliffhanger!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	15. Eyes That Shown True

A/N: I'm so sorry for leaving you guys like that for so long! ^^; I was on Christmas break and just wanted some time to relax for a bit before jumping back into the swing of things. Anywho I'm back! Again!

Disclaimer: Pish posh

Bibidibabidido: I'm glad you like it, and yes, cliffhangers are like my bread and butter, thanks for the review!

Eyes that Shown True

Though Vlad had quickly pulled back Mina had still noticed the anomaly in his mouth, that wasn't something that someone just disregarded. She thought to herself, trying to get the man to face her again. There was something going on, something he didn't want to talk about, something strange…

"Vlad…?" she whispered softly "Vlad what was that?" she asked, she heard him sigh and then turned to face her again. His eyes were heavy, it seemed that he was more of an old man with many regrets rather than the young fit body she saw in front of her.

"I… I wish I could tell you Mina but I can't… I just… can't… It's not your fault." He said, his eyes darting away from hers' again. She frowned

"Vlad… I… well I don't think I can accept that." He looked at her, startled, though he made no move to explain himself and the young blonde huffed lightly and stood.

"I should get going." She said, smoothing the wrinkles from the lovely dress. "I'll wash the dress and return it to you later. Goodnight." She was tired of being left in the dark when there was so clearly something there in his life that he wouldn't tell her about. She didn't care if it was dangerous, or illegal, or whatever, he should let her make the judgements for herself. A hand caught her wrist.

"Wait. Don't go. I can't…" his voice grew incredibly soft "I can't lose you again…" Mina was sure that she wasn't meant to hear that part

"Again?" she said and he winced, confirming her suspicion. She knelt back down and tilted his chin up to meet her eyes. "Vlad what are you talking about?" he pulled away from her grasp, looking back to the fire, not answering. The young woman sighed and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, he looked to her with surprise.

"I want to be a part of your life Vlad, but I can't do that if you don't let me in." she said softly and Vlad closed his eyes, his brow crinkled, he seemed to be weighing the options of his decision in his mind. Then he sighed and put hands on both of her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes.

"This is not something I share lightly. This is not something frivolous, it's dangerous and there is good reason for my secrecy, you understand that if I share this with you there's no going back right?" she nodded, not expecting the seriousness in his voice.

"That's what people in relationships do Vlad, they trust each other with secrets they wouldn't share with anyone else."

"This is nothing like anything that you're imagining." He said lowly, his accent creeping into his voice and the blonde had to suppress the shiver that wanted to run down her spine. "But before that, there's something else I need to tell you." His hand slipped from her shoulder to her chin and his green eyes smoldered into her own, her breath whispering away and the problem at hand nearly slipping from her mind, nearly. He placed a small, feather light kiss upon her lips.

"I love you Mina." His voice was solid and the look in his eyes backed up his statement. She smiled and whispered

"I love you too Vlad." The grin she got in response was nearly blinding. He kissed her again and she could swear that she _tasted _the happiness flowing off of him. When they separated her eyes became serious again, she wasn't about to be deterred from knowing this mysterious secret. The dark haired man saw the change and sighed and lifted her hand, kissing her knuckles.

"I didn't think that would distract you, but I needed to get it off my chest first, though I did hope that it would be enough." He teased lightly, Mina pouted at him, but at least he had some of his lightheartedness back, though she could see it was only skin deep, his shoulders were stiff and his eyes held a deep-rooted sadness in them, more so than usual. He sighed and continued

"What I'm about to tell you will take some convincing, so don't be alarmed." He said, Mina could feel butterflies beginning to build up in her stomach, just what was this? The tension was killing her… Vlad looked behind him at the end-table before reaching back and returning with an old fashioned letter opener, the kind that looked more like a small knife than something that was used on paper.

And before she could stop him he ran the blade against the skin of his forearm. Mina lurched forward, knocking the opener from his hands and pulling his arm into her lap, about to put the blanket on it to staunch the bleeding but Vlad grabbed her hand with his good one.

"Just watch. I'm not exactly what you would call… normal." Mina looked down to the cut and thought her eyes just might pop out of her head, the skin sealed up and healed within moments, the only traces being the blood slowly dripping down his forearm.

"W-what?" she ran her fingers over the affected area, trying to ascertain whether the skin was really his or if it was an elaborate hoax. She looked at the blood that stuck to her fingers, about to bring it up to her nose to see if it really was the coppery substance when a hand wrapped around her own, pulling it away from her face with surprising strength.

"I wouldn't recommend that." Vlad said, completely serious now, he couldn't risk his beloved becoming the same kind of monster as he. He'd tried something like it last time and it hadn't worked out well for any parties involved. "My blood is different… from humans'." Mina looked up at those words, he said that as though he wasn't one…

A/N: Ohhhh, it's getting so good now, I can't wait to do the next chapter :3

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	16. A Look of Love

A/N: Sup! I just finished typing up a chapter of The Boy in Blue and so now I think I'll jump right into the next one and I know that this chapter will be fun and exciting so I'm not dreading it too much :p side note, I'm going to get some ice cream before I really get started.

Disclaimer: 01001110 01001111.

bibidibabidido: I'm glad you like it, and yes, I must, I love cliffhangers too much ^^; updates are every Tuesday. Thanks for the review!

A Look of Love

"What do you mean?" she asked, and Vlad sighed, he was in the midst of telling her and he still wanted to back out.

"I mean… I mean that I'm not human. I haven't been for a long time." Mina just looked at him with confused eyes.

"What?" though now she seemed less concerned and more frustrated. "Vlad if this is some kind of joke." She had started wiping his blood from her hands with a spare napkin from dinner.

"It's no joke." He said though he hesitated upon telling her what he really was, he didn't want her to look at him with fear again. He'd seen it before and seen it from his own people before that, he didn't know if he could bear to see it on someone he cared about again.

"If you're not human then what are you?" she asked with a raised brow.

"I… I'm a vampire." He said quietly. And then Mina did the last thing he ever expected her to, she laughed. The former prince didn't know what to do, this wasn't the reaction he was prepared for. All he found himself doing was opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

"Really Vlad? That's the best you could come up with? A vampire? If you're going to make something up, at least make it believable." She looked at him and started giggling again, he frowned

"I'm telling the truth Mina, why on earth would I lie to you?" he asked, starting to feel a little bit more than helpless

"Vlad, I know that you want this to work but you need to trust me to accept your secrets." She said, and the vampire wanted to bang his head on a wall, she still thought that he didn't want to tell her.

"I am! That's it!" he said, not sure what else to do in this scenario and Mina rolled her eyes

"Right and I'm sure that you can turn into a bat and go through walls and all kinds of crazy stuff too huh?" Vlad huffed

"I am a lot bigger than just one bat, so not _a _but _many _and I'm not a ghost, I can't walk through walls, but I can turn into mist so I can see where people think that." He grumbled and Mina just stared at him

"You really believe all this stuff don't you?" she said, starting to look concerned, Vlad bit back a growl, short of biting her or terrifying her what could he do to convince her this wasn't all an illusion?

"Mina, I'm nearly six hundred years old, I was raised in the Ottoman Empire as my father gave me up to the Turks at a young age to be raised there. There I was trained and beaten into a brutal warrior and in the war committed some of the most horrific acts of brutality that are still remembered to this day. I went home later in life and married and ruled my people and when they were threatened again I did the one thing I could and sacrificed my humanity to save them. I've watched the world rise and fall Mina, what do I have to do to convince you that what I speak is the truth?" He knew that upon talking about his past his accent slipped forward stronger than it usually did, he couldn't help it, his native tongue was as much a part of his past as Mina herself was.

Mina was unusually quiet, staring at him with an intensity that nearly unnerved him, she didn't seem to know what to do, or even what to think. And just when he was about to start worrying that something had snapped within her she blinked and then swallowed. A deep breath and then she lifted a hand to his face. The former prince didn't move, didn't want to startle her. Her fingers met his lips and he paused, now fairly certain of what she was after, he parted them slowly and allowed her access. As she trailed back to his canines he lifted a lip, allowing his fangs to come into full view, her finger touched one gently and Vlad couldn't help the warning growl that slipped from his lips. The sound startled the blonde and she jerked her hand back, he could hear her heartbeat pounding a mile a minute and he took a deep breath, yanking his bloodlust back under control.

"Do you believe me now?" he asked gently, Mina's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"You… you're telling the truth…" she breathed and Vlad nodded. She was startled, scared at realizing all the scary stories she'd been told as a girl just might be true but she wasn't running from him. She didn't seem terrified of _him _and that was what mattered. It took a while for anyone to become acclimated to the supernatural world these days as all of it was swathed in a great big cloak of things that were made up and things that were not and a nice dose of skepticism just to top it off. Mina took a shaky breath and looked from her hand to his face again before saying

"You… you said that acts you committed in the past are still remembered to this day… Vlad…" she paused, true fear starting to creep into her eyes now "What is your real name?" the former prince sighed and answered softly

"I have many names, I was the Prince of Transylvania, Vlad The Impaler Tepes, also known as Dracula, son of the devil."

A/N: Mwahahahahaha!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	17. A Former Prince

A/N: Hey guys, sorry this chapter's a little late, it's been quite the pretty busy week. ^^; Still getting settled in at my new job but I like it, I get to pick my hours the way I want them :)

Disclaimer: Disclaimed!

Guest: I'm going on! I'm sorry it took so long! I'm glad you like it and thanks for the review!

A Former Prince

Mina couldn't believe her ears, she didn't know what to think, all of the past few minutes seemed like a dream, she wouldn't be surprised to wake up and find out she'd tripped and landed on her head or something equally ridiculous.

"You…? You're Count Dracula?" she asked in wonder, _the _vampire, the king of them all, was the man sitting right before her, the man that she'd fallen in love with?

"I was never a Count." He corrected with a small smile "That was made up, but yes, I am him."

"Forgive me for mixing those up." She said rather snarkily, her sass was more of a reflex than actually intended to offend him but she was glad when it didn't all the same. She looked back up into his eyes shyly, now slightly more wary of his gaze

"You're not going to hypnotize me or anything are you?" she asked suddenly worried, she remembered that that was one of the vampire's abilities, or at least she thought it was "Can you even hypnotize people?" he grinned and chuckled

"No, I haven't hypnotized you, but yes I can, though it's a little different than what you think it might be." He paused and then looked at her again "It's more like taking over someone else, robbing them of their free will. You would know if I had done so to you. It's not a liberty I take too terribly often." Mina looked at him, surprised by the words

"How can you not? There are so many times that I wished I could change how someone was acting with a word or a glance." Vlad chuckled

"It gets boring, having people do your every bidding without question, without feeling, it's boring and lonely, and sad." He added as an afterthought. They were both quiet for a moment. Mina considering what he'd said, he said it in such a manner that she was sure he'd tried it before and experienced it before.

"It doesn't work on everyone though," he said "they have to be weak willed to begin with, you can't just take someone who loves music and suddenly make them hate it, for example. But you can make someone who's scared suddenly be frozen in terror, it's fairly complicated and not something I learned how to do for some time after changing." He explained

"What was it like?" Mina asked softly, she'd heard the story of Dracula on many occasions but she wasn't sure if she'd ever heard the story of how he'd _become_ the legendary monster.

"I fought for the Turks when I was young." Vlad started, leaning back now, slightly more relaxed and Mina pulled her spaghetti onto her lap and continued to eat it. It was quite good, a little cold now but that didn't bother her. Vlad raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged.

"I'm hungry." He gave a soft smile and shook his head.

"Fair enough. Anyway, I was raised to be a soldier from a very young age, taught to kill without mercy, to obey without question. I was smart and quickly rose through the ranks, and eventually well… you've heard the stories of Vlad the Impaler I'm sure." He said

"Never from the man himself." Mina said, pointing her fork at him "How often do you get to hear the events of ancient history straight from the people who lived through them."

"Ancient? I'd hardly call that ancient." The vampire said

"You just don't want me to call you old." She teased and he smiled at her

"You caught me, I can't be _that _old, I often think to myself, but it's harder when someone else reminds you." Mina scooted a little bit closer and Vlad smiled, she could tell that he was nervous, he thought that she would be afraid of him. She was a little nervous but wouldn't anyone be at this point? Besides, with trusting her with his secret, it just made her trust him in return more. He wouldn't share it with her if he was just going to kill her.

"So, what happened next?" she asked, elbowing his side gently, he sighed

"Next is not something I'm proud of. It's something that I'd rather forget I'd done…" he looked at her, sadness rooted deeply in his eyes. "Next is the reason I'm known as Vlad the Impaler, the atrocities of war, I know, I _know _that by putting one village to the stake I saved many more but still…"

"Did you actually drink their blood like fine wine?" she couldn't help the statement that slipped from her lips. She was startled when Vlad blurted out a laugh

"Is that what the internet says about me?" he asked "No, not at that time, though I did help perpetuate that rumor, helped spread the fear, I'm glad that it stuck well enough to continue to this day." He kept chuckling, when he calmed he said "No, though eventually I was allowed to return home, where I ruled as Prince peacefully for many happy years. I took a wife, had a beautiful young son."

"You're a father?" Mina asked, that wasn't something she expected to hear from him, he looked so young and she knew that he was much older than he looked but, he looked the age he had been turned at he was a father so young?

"It was a different time back then, people were less afraid to get married and have kids young, we didn't live as long, not to mention I was expected to have an heir to my throne secured." Mina nodded, that made sense but it was still surprising, Vlad continued "Then the Turks invaded my lands and demanded my people's children, my child…" he took a deep breath

"That's when everything went downhill."

A/N: Sorry again for being so late!

Till next time,

-Winged Elment


	18. Curious Glance

A/N: I am on a roll, I'm just gonna keep knocking these out, woot woot! Though I may break for dinner in this one…

Disclaimer: Banana.

A Curious Glance

Vlad paused and took a deep breath, Mina may trust him and he was willing to share but it was hard for him to remember the events that had taken place over that week, let alone to tell them to another.

"I wasn't about to give up my son to Mehmet."

"Who?" Mina asked, her head tilted to the side, Vlad smiled at her, she was so cute when she did that

"Mehmet was the ruler of the Ottoman Empire at the time, he and I grew up like brothers, I wish things didn't end between us as they did but I don't regret stopping him, he was a monster, nearly as much as I."

"Okay, so you didn't want to give him your son, what was your son's name?" she asked suddenly as she thought of the question, Vlad thought back on the blonde fondly

"His name was Ingress, he was so sweet, so kind-hearted, he made a good ruler."

"I take it he survived?" she asked and Vlad nodded, continuing his story

"I killed the men that came to take him, it was a snap decision but I knew in my heart that I couldn't give him up to the Turks, couldn't let them make a monster of him as they had with me. My father was appalled, he thought that I had doomed us all to be wiped out by the Turks, but I saw that as equally bad as having our children taken from us again, as bowing over and letting them take what they wanted. I knew that there was something within Broken Tooth mountain that killed Turks, that there was something powerful, supernatural there, we'd found the torn helmets nearly a few days prior. A monk had warned me of the monster that lived there, a man who'd mad a deal with a devil, a vampire." Mina was now leaning forward from her spot on the rug, soaking up every word that fell from his lips.

"I went there, I met the monster that was trapped there, spoke with him, eventually he made a deal with me. He said that he would give me a taste of his power, that if I resisted drinking blood for three days that I would be free of his curse and the power would fade."

"You didn't though," Mina said, stating the obvious as Vlad was sitting right in front of her, he wouldn't be if he had resisted drinking.

"It was the last battle, the sun was rising on the third day, some of my people had fled to the monastery. And they…" he swallowed thickly, remembering the moment all too clearly

"Mirena fell…" Mina paused, utter confusion on her face

"Who?"

"My wife." The vampire said, his eyes nearly brimming over with tears, Vlad shook his head and wiped his cheeks stubbornly. Before continuing

"She sacrificed her life so that I might save my people. I did but I still feel that that cost might've been too great." Mina was crying now, the story pulled at her heart, she didn't know why it hurt her so much, she'd heard many a sad story in her life, perhaps because this one was completely true and so far from ordinary, or perhaps because she felt so close to the man who told it to her.

"What happened to your people?" she managed, "Did you win the battle?" she asked, Vlad nodded softly, not wanting to upset her more than he already had.

"It wasn't easy, but yes."

"What happened after that?" she asked, still trying to dry her tears

"Most thought I died, I lived quietly for a long time, a couple hundred years even. Then… well you know the jist of it, that is if you read the book." Mina managed a grin then

"So it is true, the story of Count Dracula?" she asked and Vlad grumbled

"I'm not a count… I was a prince. But yes, most of it was true, there was a Mina and Jon Harker and even a Van Hellsing." Mina looked at him curiously

"There was?" He nodded, sitting back now that the conversation was turning into slightly less emotional territory.

"So why…" she paused, seeming to not know how to put her thoughts into words "So why did you do the things that it said you did…?" she asked quietly and he knew what she meant, she wanted to know why he was the villain.

"I was… I've been alive for a long time." He said in short then continued at her questioning gaze "It wasn't easy, I was alone for most of that, I felt that I couldn't interact with humanity anymore and when I finally did decide that it was time to come out into the open again then I already had the habit of forcing others to my will, to bend humans into whatever I wanted, I was accustomed to getting what I wanted and wouldn't have it any other way. And then… and then I saw young Wilhelmina… and I knew she was my Mirena all over again… though in that life she was in love with another… now thinking back on it I know it was wrong to try and take her but all the same… I was a lonely, sad man…" Mina was looking at him with wide eyes now and he looked back, unsure of what he'd said to startle her so… he sighed then recited "Why think of this life separately from the next when one is born from the last?" Mina shifted back, away from him a little bit.

"No…" she whispered

"That was Mirena and I's wedding vows." He said and she swallowed stiffly

"That's impossible."

A/N: Yup, that just happened, way to go Vlad, you've gone and scared the poor woman!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	19. Unnerving Discovery

A/N: I'm not going to get very far in this right now but might as well get started. My computer's about to die so I may end up rewriting this anyway…

Disclaimer: Apple.

Unnerving Discovery

Mina stared at Vlad, all her mind would think was no… over and over and over again. Somehow hearing that he thought she was his wife's reincarnation made what they had less real. It didn't bother her that he had been in love in the past, how could anyone live as long as him and not have fallen in love at least once? No, she didn't want to be some copy, some fill-in.

"No, this can't be real…" She whispered, shaking her head, scooting back from Vlad just a little bit. The former prince reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mina. You're you. I know that much. It's just like you have little echoes of her in you. Two pictures of a forest, one in winter and one in summer are each beautiful in their own way, each one shows things differently, they are both of that forest but they are still their own independent, different picture." His explanation was simple, concise and made her think, made her realize that what he said was true.

"You share the same soul, not the same person. I believe between lives may be different but here and now is all that matters, I am in love with _you_. I loved Mirena, yes, but she's gone and you are in no way a replacement to her."

"Do you really think that?" she asked, she didn't ask it out of cruelty, she just wanted to hear his confirmation, the surety in his words.

"I do." He said, his eyes steady with hers. She swallowed stiffly and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, that's just a… well it's just a shock." Her mind was still grappling with it, and she was sure that it was something that would take her a long time to come to grips with it. It wasn't every day that you heard that you were someone's reincarnation from someone who could nigh on prove it.

"I can imagine." He said quietly "I don't know if I'd believe it myself. All I know is that you have the same feel to me as Mirena and Wilhelmina did." Mina puffed her cheeks out and ran a hand through her hair.

"So…" she said, looking around the room a little awkwardly now. Vlad chuckled at the gesture and in her awkwardness, Mina couldn't help but join in. There was a heavy silence first and then the blonde spoke up again

"So how many powers do you actually have?" she wanted to get the conversation away from being a reincarnate as much as possible, it was making her severely uncomfortable and she didn't want to think about it for a while. Vlad tilted his head back as he thought about it.

"A lot?" he said and Mina chuckled

"You're a super famous vampire and you don't even know how many powers you have." She said sarcastically, Vlad frowned

"The older a vampire is, the more powerful he is, I gain more powers all the time, so no, I don't know how many powers I have." He said rather grouchily.

"Okay, so what are some of the ones you do have? I know you said you actually can turn into a bat."

"Many bats." He interrupted, Mina rolled her eyes.

"And mist, and I take it that the sun doesn't bother you since I've seen you in it."

"It doesn't anymore." He corrected, Mina raised a brow at him and he sighed "It used to burn me just as fire would burn you. I'm still not truly comfortable in it, the moon is still my domain, I miss enjoying the warm rays but at least I can tolerate it now. Though when I do venture out in the day I lose my powers, I am much weaker during daylit hours." The blonde ran a hand down his arm, his skin fairly cool beneath her own. She had originally just thought that he ran a little cooler than most people but now she knew that his heart no longer beat, that heat no longer flowed in his veins.

"Just how strong are you at night?" she asked, scooting back to the comfortable closeness she had shared with him before. She had to admit that knowing that she was his wife's reincarnate did explain why she felt so comfortable with him, why she felt like she knew him so well, why she could read him like an open book. He looked up at her and smiled deviously, she raised a brow in challenge. He wouldn't hurt her, she knew that but she was curious as to what he was thinking. The vampire leaned forward, his hand sliding forward toward hers, his eyes never leaving her own.

"You sure you want to ask that?" he whispered, inches away from her face. She rolled her eyes again, he was still such a boy, despite being hundreds of years old, he just wanted to show off, make her feel impressed. If he wanted that, well then, he was going to have to work for it.

"Please, all you've proved so far is that you're a big teddy bear." She said and a deep growl worked its way from his chest. The noise surprised her, it wasn't something you heard from a human being and though she knew the truth he still looked all too human to her. But Mina wasn't one to back down from a challenge, she stared him down and then leaned forward and brought their lips together.

A/N: Hehehehehe, I am the very worst, and for that I am sorry, kinda :p Anyway, I've got another chapter to write tonight and a shitton of homework to do… bleh… I don't wanna do it but I need to start studying…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	20. Surprising Action

A/N: So that linear systems exam that I needed to study for in the last chapter? Got a 91%. Yup. I am that cool. Feel free to praise me… *lifts nose to the air* So awesome… lol I'll start your chapter now.

Disclaimer: Won't you follow me… into the jungle…?

Surprising Action

Vlad could only blink in surprise as his girlfriend kissed him after he growled at her. She slipped her hand around the back of his head and he melted into the kiss himself, sighing as she swiped her tongue along his lips, looking for entrance. Mina was bold, he had to give her that, he thought as he opened his mouth and allowed her access. Their tongues tangoed together and he felt her give a small gasp as his arm slipped around her back and pulled her closer. He smiled against her lips and she seemed to take his teasing as a challenge as she ran her fingernails down his back, he growled again, light and teasing. It wasn't something that he was entirely in control of anymore, he had been a vampire for much longer than he had been human, sometimes he forgot to tone down his other instincts. Mina pulled back and looked at him, surprise and mild concern written across her face

"You okay?" she asked and Vlad couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"I'm fine." He said "That was…" he cleared his throat and shook his head "wow…"

"Now who's the tough one?" Mina asked with a wink and the vampire put his head back and started laughing, when he calmed he looked back at Mina, his lovely Mina and smiled gently at her, she smiled back and Vlad knew that everything was right in the world. He leaned forward and placed his forehead against her own.

"You are such a little spitfire." He said teasingly to her, watching as her eyes crinkled upward with her smile. She pulled back and stuck her tongue out at him, he chuckled again before kissing her nose lightly.

"Mina, I love you." His voice was soft and gentle, she kissed him again

"I love you too." She said before diving back into the kiss. Vlad accepted her affections gratefully, leaning into the kiss, perhaps too eagerly as his fangs slipped from their hiding places. It didn't escape Mina's attention this time either, but this time she knew what they were and ran her tongue over the smooth sides. Vlad groaned at the feeling that shot through his nerves. He knew that they were sensitive, but he hadn't expected that… the blonde pulled back again and raised an eyebrow at him. The vampire smiled bashfully at her

"Sorry about that, I uh… didn't mean to…" he trailed off when she lifted her hand to his mouth again, pushing his lip back and poking at the elongated canine. Vlad gently pulled her hand away "That's… weird… don't do that…" he crinkled his nose, licking over his teeth once. Mina laughed

"You look like a dog that just had its nose booped." She said and Vlad made a face at her

"They're sensitive." He grumbled

"I can tell, do they always appear when you kiss someone? Cause I could see that being a problem." If Vlad could still blush, he would've

"Ah no…I just…" he looked down at the carpet, he didn't want to tell her that it was because he could hear her heartbeat speed up and it made him more excited as well, also he'd been stabbed earlier but that was beside the point.

"Are you hungry?" she asked suddenly, the phrasing of the question caught him off guard and he looked up at her, confused

"What?" his brows furrowed together

"Are you… y'know _hungry_?" she asked again, pointing to his face, and then it dawned on him

"Ahh…" he grinned at her, she shifted slightly under his gaze "_That._ Yes, I'm always hungry, always. But, it's not too terrible right now. Unless you're offering?" he wiggled his fingers at her in a silly manner and she laughed

"Hey, I don't know." She said still laughing. He wove his hand in front of her face dramatically

"You will kiss the man in front of you again." He said, allowing some more of his natural accent creep into his voice. Mina was holding her sides now with laughter

"Oh god… I can't believe you just did that!" the corners of her eyes were wet with tears of laughter

"Hey, Abbott and Costello were comedy geniuses, I love that movie." Mina met his eyes for a moment before the giggles overtook her again. He grinned as she fought to control her laughter. When she finally calmed she said

"I never would have thought that you enjoyed vampire movies."

"Of course I enjoy them, the cheesier the better." The former prince said with a grin, he loved getting a good laugh out of how cheesy and outrageously people portrayed his species.

"Really?" she said, still seeming surprised

"Why is that so strange?"

"I… I don't know, I would've thought you found them insulting or something."

"Maybe in my youth, I would've said that vampires were nothing to make light of. But now? Now I think that a good laugh can solve a lot of things, and everything should be taken with a grain of salt, besides, it's funny how wrong they are." He smiled at her and she smiled back, rolling her eyes

"Okay then, what's the thing they get wrong the most often?" she asked and he paused, thinking back on all the media he'd seen.

"Probably that we can be cuddly. We're not cuddly." He said, trying to look very serious, Mina didn't buy it and punched his shoulder and then hugged him

"I think you might be a little off on that." She said as she leaned into him, he smiled down at her before leaning down to her ear

"You fell right into my trap." He said quietly

"Oh no, whatever shall I do?"

A/N: Eh, pretty cuddly chapter but I think that's good sometimes, also if you don't know the movie Abbott and Costello meets Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolf Man I highly recommend it.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	21. Old Eyes

A/N: So I'm currently sitting in the cafeteria on the engineering campus… sometimes I feel like I live here… I'm pretty sure that I'm here more than home… and I super apologize about the couple week break, I just got caught up in school and work for a bit, I'm going to be updating like normal this week but if I'm really feeling on top of things you'll get this chapter, an extra chapter and a super long one next week, hopefully I'll be into the typing mood so you can get all the extra Dracula Untold goodness :3

Disclaimer: Um… nope.

Guest: Ahhhh! I'm so sorry! I'm glad you like it though and here's some more! Thanks for the review!

Old Eyes

Mina stirred slightly, not really sure when she had fallen asleep, she thought back on it, she remembered… she remembered being with Vlad… talking to him… finding out about… hmm that could've been a really strange dream, she thought to herself. The blonde opened her eyes and realized that she was laying up against the very man she had just been thinking of, her breath caught slightly as she realized this. His eyes were closed and his breath was slow… really slow, that wasn't a dream then, she thought, the slight insanity of the moment striking her again. It was so stunning to think that for the past couple months she had been dating a creature of legend, and not just any creature of legend, _the _one and only Dracula. She snuggled deeper into him and he unconsciously wrapped his arms tighter around her, whispering something in Romanian and she couldn't help but smile. It was amazing and incredible, she never would've expected to get this out of life… who would've thought that vampires could actually exist? That the monsters that they heard about as bedtime stories, watched on the big screen at the theater, his in the shadows of their very own world.

Sure she had known that there was something that Vlad had been hiding from her, that there was something that he wasn't telling her, but she had never expected it to be that he was immortal, that he had fought Turks as a child and slain many many men throughout his long life. Mina reached a hand up and ran it down his face, feeling his cool skin and the beginnings of stubble against her fingertips. The former prince stirred slightly, his eyes slowly blinking open, brightening when he saw her.

"When did I fall asleep…?" he said softly, yawning the second he finished voicing the words.

"I don't know, I'm fairly certain that I fell asleep first." She responded, just as softly, not wanting to break the mood of the room, it was quiet and calm, the fire was mere embers in the hearth but that was okay.

"You did," he mumbled, shifting his weight and pulling her tighter against his chest, her ear was now against his collar bone, though his heart only beat ever so occasionally against her ear. Mina giggled quietly

"Then why are you asking me when you fell asleep?" Vlad stroked her head

"Shhh… no more talking…" something else was mumbled, so distorted that she wasn't even sure which language it was in.

"Vlad!" she grumbled as her pulled her uncomfortably onto her side. He just mumbled and turned his head the other way. She twisted and squirmed, trying to get out of the vampire's grip. He frowned and sighed and let her go, Mina humphed at the man and grabbed one of his arms, trying to pull him to his feet.

"Why are you trying to get me to get up?" he asked, his eyes still closed

"Because it's boring to be the only one awake in your house." She gave up trying to pull on his arm, he was just too heavy. "I thought you were nocturnal." She commented, putting her hand on her hip. The former prince peeked at her from under a heavy eyelid.

"Kinda." He said before sighing and sitting up, rubbing his face as he yawned again. "I do try to put up _some_ human appearances." He grumbled before standing and looking at her

"What about you? Aren't you human people supposed to sleep at night?" he asked, a teasing light in his eyes.

"I don't always do what I'm supposed to." She teased back, Vlad raised an eyebrow and stood, stepping up to her, trying to be big and scary, she could tell, but all she could see was the sleepy cute side of him right now. He put an arm around her, tilting her chin back so he could see her face, she smiled up at him, loving the look in those green eyes. She ran a hand down his cheek again and he leaned into her touch.

"Your eyes are the only thing about you that is old." She said quietly, voicing an opinion she'd held for a long time now.

"What?" his attention was definitely on her now

"Your eyes, the rest of you looks young, but your eyes carry a weight to them, I don't really know how to explain it other than your eyes look old." He smiled sadly

"It's the weight of a hard life." He said in explanation, she kissed him gently and ran her hand back down through his hair only to rest on his shoulder instead.

"I think they make you look wise." She said with a small grin

"I'm not wise." The vampire scoffed "I have made so many, many mistakes over my life."

"And that's how one becomes wise, is through their mistakes and being able to recognize them before they come again to haunt you." Mina said before he leaned forward and kissed her again. When they parted they rested their foreheads together.

"Mina, I love you."

"I love you too Vlad."

A/N: Okay so this is slightly short, but it's also super fluffy and if my predictions are right you guys are gonna get another chapter this week anyway so!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	22. Young Soul

A/N: Hey guys! Feeling pretty productive today :) I've already been to work and am sitting in class now, hoping parking services doesn't catch my car ^^; Anywho with any luck this chapter will be posted later tonight or tomorrow and the one for next week will be extra long :)

Disclaimer: How about some electronics info instead? Yeah?

Guest: I'm glad you like it so much :3 Thanks so much for the review!

Young Soul

Vlad couldn't believe that he was standing in his kitchen, with Mina happily making herself some hot chocolate, and yet all the while, having a conversation about vampires like it was no big deal.

"So how many of your kind are there?" she asked then seemed to reconsider her question "Are there different species of vampires? Or other kinds of mythical monsters?" Vlad grinned at her, leaning back against the counter.

"Well, I'm not so sure about the mythical monsters, it's not like we have group meetings or anything, I wouldn't be surprised to find others, that, like vampires, have hidden themselves so far away from society that no one remembers them as they truly are anymore. As for vampires themselves, I'm fairly certain that my kind is the only kind. We are pretty solitary creatures, we don't really interact with others, we keep to ourselves, away from the world, I know there is me and then… one other one that I know of."

"Another one?" Mina's eyes were bright as she blew on her steaming mug of cocoa across the counter from him. He sighed, he knew that once she knew of his world that it would only be a matter of time until the Master came up.

"He's the progenitor of the species, the first vampire. The one who turned me. He… he is evil incarnate, been alone on this world for too long, soaked in his anger and desire for vengeance… he is the Master vampire." The blonde's brows raised

"Does he have a name?" Vlad shook his head slowly

"Not one that he or the rest of the world remembers, I doubt he even really remembers what it meant to be human, who he even was as a human."

"But you do." Mina interjected, the vampire's eyes snapped up to meet hers, and he smiled softly, cupping her cheek in his cold hand

"I haven't always, but I always remember that there's something human to live for, _someone_ to be human for." The young woman's eyes softened and she leaned into his touch before shivering lightly and taking his hand between her own

"Your hands are cold." She said and he chuckled

"Sorry, effect of my condition," he couldn't help but laugh as she rubbed his fingers between her own, trying to warm them up to little avail.

"I've lost too much blood recently for that to work, normally I'd be okay, but…"

"Does this have to do with how I found you in the library this evening?" she asked, Vlad blinked, had that only been this past evening? It felt like it'd been ages ago. The former prince nodded, sighing slightly

"The Master… he needs me, for what I don't know, and I don't want to know, he's been haunting me since the very day I accepted his deal, a deal that I should've never considered but… but it was the only way to keep my people alive, to save my kingdom." He sighed, hanging his head. "I owe him something, I don't know what, but he's made it very clear that I still owe him for granting me eternal life. Honestly at this point I just wish he would get it over with, I don't want to be caught up in this web any longer."

"Can he actually control you though?" Mina asked, Vlad shook his head

"No."

"Then you don't have to do what he says." She explained simply, the vampire just smiled weakly

"You don't understand, I'm a man of my word, I will not go back on it, I owe him, that's all there is to it, even though I may have come to think of this life as more of a curse than a gift I still made that deal, I thought at the time that I would get out of it within three days as had been the arrangement but… but it didn't work out that way." He sighed and Mina rubbed his shoulder comfortingly

"I'm sure you'll figure it out when the time comes. But setting that aside, what happened this afternoon? There was so much blood." Vlad unconsciously ran a hand over his stomach, remembering the pain of it all so vividly.

"He came to remind me that I'm not as tough as I thought I was, that everything that I try to build in the human world will always come crumbling down, he also tore a hole in my torso…" the cocoa that Mina had been drinking started to come back up as she choked on it in surprise. Vlad quickly rounded the peninsula in his kitchen, patting her back as she tried to get the hot liquid out of her wind pipe. When she finally seemed to be in the clear she coughed out a weak

"What?!" and lifted the bottom of his shirt to look for herself. Vlad sighed and let her. She looked between his face and his stomach,

"But… but…" she whispered, looking again for herself "This is impossible…" the former prince took her hands gently and kissed each one before saying

"Remember, I'm not human, I heal a lot faster than your people do." Mina looked down at his torso again

"All that blood… that was all from you…?" she looked worried, and Vlad didn't quite know what to do to make her feel better.

"Yes." He said, not really sure what else to say "But I'm fine now, it's really okay, you don't need to worry about me."

"But…" she sighed then "You sure?" he nodded

"I'm sure." They were both quiet for a few moments before something seemed to register with her

"Wait, you said that you can't get warm when you've lost a lot of blood, does that mean that you don't have enough to keep yourself warm? That you don't have enough for yourself?" the former prince was fairly certain of where this conversation was going, and he didn't care for it.

"Mina, I'll be fine." She put a hand on his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes

"Vlad, what happens when you get hurt? When you have to heal yourself?" she asked seriously, the vampire sighed and looked away from her, he didn't want to involve her in the ugly side of what he was, not if he could help it, he knew whether he answered or not that she had figured it out, that she knew what happened when he got hurt and had to heal himself as she had put it.

"It's fine."

"That's not an answer Vlad." She said, tilting his head back up to meet her eyes again.

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with." He said instead, she frowned.

"You can't open up to me like this and then keep things hidden away again, that's not fair, I'm in this now whether you like it or not. Now, tell me."

"I'm fairly certain that you've figured it out for yourself." The former prince replied, looking down at the ground again. Mina sighed

"I want to hear it from your lips." It was Vlad's turn to sigh

"The more I use my powers, the more I do, the more energy I use up, the more that I feel it, the hunger grows stronger with all of it." Mina nodded, she had figured it out

"So you are hungry right now." She said and Vlad met her eyes once more with an intensity that made her look away

"I've dealt with worse." He said simply

"How do you… deal with it?" she asked "How do you… manage?" he could tell that this wasn't going to be something that she wanted to hear, this wasn't something that anyone wanted to hear. This was the darker side of himself, the side that truly wasn't human… at least that was what he told himself, what he tried to believe.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that question Mina?" he asked and she took a deep breath, steadying herself, he was sure

"Yes." The vampire sighed now

"I find those that won't be missed, the castoffs of society, the ones that have already left their actual lives behind." Vlad said, he didn't say what he did with them, she didn't need to know that he enjoyed toying with his food, that he actually liked to see the terror in their eyes.

"I take it you kill them?" she said calmly, Vlad was actually rather impressed with how well she was holding it together.

"Most of the time. It's hard for those that aren't to shake off such an experience regardless of how far their minds have already sank." He said this quietly, he always told himself that he shouldn't feel shame in what he was, that he was no more a monster than a tiger or an eagle was. That he was a predator just doing what he was meant for, but it was different somehow, somehow just because it was human lives on the line… he shook off the thoughts and turned his attention back to the young woman in front of him.

"Do you need it now?" she asked, he knew that she would offer, it was in her nature, she had done so once before, in a past life after all. He had taken her life from her in that time, and in doing so condemned himself to an eternity of blood and death. Though it had been worth it, he had saved his son, his son had lived a long and prosperous life and so did his descendants who followed him. He put his hands on both of her shoulders, gently pushing her back a step

"No, I'm fine." He said, shaking his head

"Are you sure?" she asked again, looking at him, he nodded once more and then she did something that he entirely didn't expect. She pulled the back of his head down and kissed him passionately. He returned the favor after a second, though he was a little slow on the uptake, their tongues twined together passionately and then Mina ran hers seductively against his fangs which had once again slipped out of their hiding places and Vlad couldn't help the jolt that ran through his veins at the feeling. He was both immensely aroused by the feeling and hungry, he wanted to make love to her and bite her all at once. He pulled back, breathing hard, trying to put a cap on the monster inside of himself.

"Don't do that." He said between breaths, he looked back up and saw Mina with a huge grin on her face.

"You were lying, I knew it." She said excitedly, Vlad frowned

"I was not lying."

"But you were, otherwise your fangs wouldn't have been there, and I don't think you would've had such a reaction to me touching them like that either." She said cheekily. The former prince shook his head in frustration.

"That isn't true." He said grouchily.

"It totally is." She grinned

"No, it isn't and I suggest you don't do that again unless you want to lose that pretty tongue of yours." He grouched, the blonde laughed

"You're so grumpy."

"I am not." The vampire said quickly.

"You are too. Alright, I'll agree on one condition." Vlad looked over at her with a brow raised

"What is that?" he asked

"You have to let me help you." She said, holding up an arm to him. The former prince froze.

"What?"

A/N: Okay so this chapter is really long to make up for the lack of chapter a couple weeks ago, it'll probably be posted tonight if I'm really good about continuing to sit here and type, which I should be. And then you'll be another chapter on Tuesday when they normally come out.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	23. His Fears

A/N: Whew… this is the last chapter I need to type tonight, this'll make 6,000 words in one day… so yeah… that's a lot… but I'll be all caught up on all my fanfiction, my personal writing… not so much but hey, I'll worry about that later, maybe I'll even get some done… Who knows, I'm on a freaking roll today, I even cleaned house this morning! Imagine that!

Disclaimer: Have I booped you guys? I don't think I've booped you guys, so Boop!

His Fears

"What?" Vlad looked at her like she was crazy "What are you talking about?" he took a half a step back from her, as though her arm was going to leap up and bite _him_ instead.

"I want you to let me do something for you, something that will mean a lot to you." She said, following his step. She wasn't afraid of him, if that's what he thought. She knew that he would have enough control not to hurt her, that he would never dream of hurting her. This was one of those things that she just knew deep down in her soul. He took hold of her arms gently, as though she were made of glass that would break at the slightest provocation.

"Not this… never this." He said, looking down at the floor, he took a deep breath, Mina squatted her knees a little so she could look him in the eye again

"Why not?" she asked

"Why do you want this so badly?" he shot back, looking a little frustrated now "I could hurt you, I could kill you, completely on accident." He said, Mina shook her head and he growled lightly

"You wouldn't, you've had how many years to get good at what you are? You're no newbie at this." He sighed

"Why? Why do you want me to do this so badly?"

"Because I know you need it."

"I've taken worse injuries and stayed off drinking." He said and Mina looked him in the eye, pulled his face back up, smiling as she thought of her young cousins, how they didn't like to look at their parents when they were in trouble, that was exactly how Vlad was acting, as though he were in trouble for just being what he was, for just being what he was.

"But how desperate were the times and how long ago was that, you shouldn't push yourself so far Vlad." He pinched the bridge of his nose then and sighed

"I'm the legendary king of the vampires and I'm getting reprimanded by a human woman like she's my mother." He said, shaking his head as though this were perfectly normal. Mina slapped his arm

"Don't mock me." She said and he looked at her, there was a look in his eye that she had never seen before, it was dark, and as she watched, his eyes darkened, taking on a reddish glow in the light of kitchen, he growled again, but this time there was no play in it, there was no teasing light it, it was dark and rough and she couldn't help it, she backed up a step. Her heart started to pound faster, adrenalin started to race through her system.

"Vlad…?" she whispered, her instincts were screaming at her to run, but again she was sure that he would never hurt her… she bumped into the wall, and his hand hit the drywall beside her head and she flinched. Still that darkness clouded his eyes, his teeth pulled back from his lips to reveal glossy fangs. He leaned down, overtop of her and she bit her lip, she could feel his breath on her neck, she thought for sure that in that moment that she was going to die, that he was going to bite down and drink her dry… her eyes squeezed shut and then nothing, not even the cool feel of his body over hers.

"You're not as ready to give it up as you think, you have no idea what you're offering, you have no idea the truth of what I am." He said softly, looking just as human as the first time they'd met. And then his head snapped to the side.

"Don't you dare do that again!" she shouted

"You needed to understand." He said softly, "You needed to know that I am not a kitten with no claws, what I am is dangerous. I have no problem opening up to you but I am not without my own dangers."

"I understand that!" she snapped, he looked at her with no small amount of surprise and she took a deep breath "I understand that." She said again, quieter this time "I never meant to imply that you weren't capable of causing damage, I just knew that you would never intentionally hurt _me_. That I'm sure with all of your strength some control would be included in there too. Maybe I was wrong…" the last part was mumbled under her breath but Vlad heard it anyway.

"I… Mina…" he paused, as though completely unsure of his own words.

"Vlad I need a minute." She said, holding up a hand, he sighed and plopped down in a chair but didn't object to her request. Mina took a few deep breaths, trying to compose herself. She wasn't used to being nearly eaten by a vampire as a 'lesson' as he seemed to think it was, a lesson that she didn't need, thank you very much. She sighed and looked over at said vampire, who was hanging his head in his hands and was likely berating himself for doing something so stupid. Mina sighed again and walked over to him, squatting in front of the chair and waiting for him to lift his head. After a moment he did so and said in a soft voice

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Don't do that again." She said "Though if you'll be nice, my offer still stands."

A/N: 6.000 freaking words guys… I'm very much done typing now thank you very much

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	24. Kind Heart

A/N: Here I am again, typing the very next day! Woot! I honestly can't believe that I'm not sick of writing at this point… Anywho, I'm gonna jump right into this in hopes that I can finish it before I have to go to class. It's a fifty fifty shot, so I better get going huh? ;p

Disclaimer: Oh I don't know, I'm running out of ideas here guys…

Guest: I'm glad it made you happy :) Thanks for the review !

Kind Heart

Vlad smiled at the young woman who squatted before him, he loved her, he truly did, that was why he had tried to spook her just a little bit. He had thought that she didn't get it, didn't understand that he was a vampire as they really were, powerful and dangerous, not something to be trifled with, but clearly that hadn't been the issue. To be perfectly honest he was a little concerned at her eagerness to help him, to offer herself to him, it made him wonder what was going on inside that head of hers.

"I appreciate the offer but really, I'll be okay." He said, running his hand over her soft short hair.

"Are you sure?" she asked yet again.

"Why are you so eager for me to bite you?" he asked in return, he wanted to know, he knew that some people enjoyed it but this was the first time that he'd actually run into one of those people, well that was jumping to conclusions, he didn't know if Mina was one of those people, it just certainly seemed like it so far in their conversation… what an odd twist of fate that would be… he mused to himself as Mina sat back on her heels, the dress she was wearing bunching up oddly as she did.

"Partly because I think you're lying about not really needing it, and partly because I'm a little bit curious as to what it feels like, do you know?" she asked him, the former prince shook his head.

"No, though from what I understand it hurts, just like getting bit by anything would. I've been bit by horses and dogs plenty of times before though." He said, giving her a sly grin.

"Are you absolutely sure?" she asked once more and Vlad made a face at her

"Do you really want me to bite you?" he grumbled, he wasn't so against the offer, but he didn't really need it and didn't want to hurt her unnecessarily.

"No, no, I just want to be sure, I'd rather have you do it while I'm expecting it than when I'm not." She said and Vlad simply raised a brow at her

"What do you mean?" he said, all of a sudden very confused by the whole thing, Mina just sighed at him

"Vlad, I'm spending the night here."

"Yes, I was assuming you would." He said, nodding, that made sense.

"Aaaannnd, what?" he just blinked at her as she gestured at him vaguely. She sighed "Did you think that nothing would happen?" He tilted his head and Mina slapped her forehead in frustration. What on earth was she going on about?

"Sex Vlad." She said and he felt his mouth open in a small 'o' he felt himself start to blush a little as well and Mina sighed

"It is the 21st century, people do do that outside of marriage now." Vlad rubbed the back of head in embarrassment

"I uh…"

"Oh you are so thick sometimes, I swear." She grumbled and the former prince mumbled an apology under his breath

"I'm sorry, I uh, I know…I just… I just didn't think." He said quietly, still blushing furiously. Mina laughed now, and placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

"You are so out of the times, you know that?" she whispered in his ear. His head snapped over to look at her

"I am not!" he said and she laughed harder.

"Vlad have you seen your phone?" she said

"What's wrong with my phone?" he asked, feeling awfully defensive now that she was going after him, he tried to keep up on the times, he really really did.

"It's a flip phone, you need a new one." She said

"I just got a new one." He shot back, and he had, it'd only been a couple years since he'd gotten a new phone, this one still worked too.

"It doesn't work like that anymore, you get a new one every couple of years."

"But… but that doesn't make any sense…" he grumbled, sinking farther back into the couch. Mina laughed at him again, kissing his cheek this time.

"It's okay." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a big hug now, the mood completely lightened. He couldn't say that he was happy about it being at the expense of his old ideas but he would take it.

"So…" she said after a few moments

"Hmm?" he asked, still tired, still wanting to slip back into pleasant dreams with his love in his arms

"Did you really think that nothing would happen?" she asked and he sighed, feeling silly for his slip

"No, I just… I didn't even think about it, I… slip into old gentlemanly habits sometimes." He said in explanation, Mina smiled at him and shook her head.

"You're such an old man." He frowned at her

"I am not!" she just rolled her eyes and gave him a sly grin

"So what about now?" she asked, leaning up in his lap and kissing him, he grinned into the kiss and pulled her higher into his lap

"It might be on my mind now…" he whispered into ear, allowing more of his natural accent to leak into his voice. Mina tilted her head back and sighed as he trailed small kisses down her neck, licking softly along her pulse line, the hunger in his belly flaring up at the proximity of her heartbeat, he felt her laugh against his lips

"You can still do it, you know."

A/N: Heheheh… I'm evil and I love it…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	25. Tender Touch

A/N: Hey guys, I'm currently in my electrical machinery class, yes I'm summer classes, yes I'm crazy for doing so. But… my last two semesters are going to be super easy because of it. So right now things are a bit hectic since I'm working full time and going to school full time so updates are going to be a bit odd and for that I apologize in advance. There will be a long chapter update when I finish classes to make up for my lack around finals week. Now I will shut up and give you the chapter.

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to explain that I am an engineer?

Louisaaa: I'm sorry! I'm glad you like it though and thanks for the review!

Guest: I'm sorry! I had finals… also I like cliffhangers waaaaaayyyy too much. I'm glad you like it though and thanks for the review!

Tender Touch

Mina wanted to start laughing as Vlad went right for her pulse point. Now that she knew, thinking back on previous make out sessions, he always did that, liked to lick ad nuzzle along her neck. Now she knew there was a reason for it. The former prince growled lightly at her suggestion and Mina started chuckling again.

"Do you like to torture yourself?" she asked, feeling the tension in his shoulders. He leaned back into the couch, looking at her curiously. She ginned, tilting her head back and watching as his eyes drifted down to her pulse. He glanced back up at her and grinned a little bit.

"Perhaps I do." He said slyly, Mina wanted to roll her eyes at his antics but he just leaned back down again and went back to what he was doing before and the blonde just sighed. Vlad chuckled against her skin and slowly worked his way back up to her mouth. He kissed her full on the mouth, and then pulled away, looking deeply into her eyes, she smiled, seeing those old, old eyes so full of love, love for her, looking right at her.

"I love you." He confirmed what his eyes were already saying. Mina pecked his lips once before answering

"I love you too." He smiled at her, the edges of his eyes crinkling slightly as he did.

The two of them just sat there for a bit, looking lovingly at one another, small kisses exchanged here or there before slowly working up in intensity. Eventually Vlad suggested that they move to the bedroom and Mina just looked at him confused

"What's wrong with right here?" she asked, honestly curious as to his reasoning for wanting to move, she was worked up, and didn't want to go anywhere, she just wanted to go, right here, right now.

"I…" he stopped, thought for a moment and then sighed "nothing I suppose, I just…" he stopped again, waited for a moment then bent down to kiss her once more "never mind."

-Forever and a Day-

Mina woke up the next morning feeling satisfied and a little sore if she was totally honest with herself, it had been a long time since she had really felt into it enough to sleep with another person. She rolled over and looked at the man lying beside her, Vlad had at one point, finally convinced her to move to his bedroom, and she was grateful for that now, his bed was fantastically comfortable, she realized as she stretched. She looked over at him again, he was twitching lightly in his sleep, who knew that vampires had dreams, she mused, and then thought about her last statement again, it was rather crazy for her to think that only yesterday she had been wondering what was so strange about her boyfriend and now, knowing that he was _the _Dracula… well, it was surprising to say the least. Vlad twitched again, grumbling something under his breath that was half a word and half a growl. Mina giggled silently, watching him as he slept, which should have been a little creepy but… well at least she was the human in this relationship, she thought to herself as she thought back to recent vampires in the media.

She flopped back on her back again, looking up at the massive canopy over her head. She wasn't ready to get out of bed but she was most certainly awake at this point. She looked over to the nightstand and blinked in mild surprise. There was a water glass sitting there. The blonde shifted into a more upright position and took a drink, she didn't remember Vlad getting up to get that at any point… She shrugged the thought off as she set it back down and looked over to the former prince on her left. He lifted a lip and growled deeply, though his eyes never opened. Mina raised a brow, something was wrong now, she was fairly certain that he was having a nightmare, the thought solidified when he gripped the sheets tightly and growled again. The sound sent a shiver down the young woman's spine, he'd growled playfully at her last night but this… this was a threat. She reached over and touched his shoulder, trying gently to rouse him from his dreams. The vampire didn't react, simply growled again, shoulder jerking from her grip. Mina's lips flattened into a concerned, determined line and she grabbed both of the man's shoulders, shaking him roughly.

"Vlad!" she said, the man didn't rouse and she tried again "Vlad!" louder this time. This did incite a reaction, though not what she expected. Vlad shot upright, face twisted in a snarl, eyes a strange dark black and still foggy with sleep and confusion. He panted and then seemed to register where he was and who he was with. He took one look at the startled woman beside him and his face cleared, his fangs disappearing along with his confusion.

"I'm sorry," he said, leaning back on his elbows and looking rather shamefaced "I didn't mean to startle you. Good morning? I suppose?"

A/N: Poor Vlad, all confused and stuck in dreamland.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	26. Her Open Mind

A/N: Hello again everyone! Typing from class again ^^; I'm going to type a chapter for this particular work first cause I need to watch cutscenes for Wrinkle in Time and I need to watch an episode of the DMC anime so… yeah I'm going to be typing this one first this week, not that that means anything to you but I thought I'd let you know

Disclaimer: Zap zap engineer remember

madison: Hahaha, here's the new chapter, they usually come out on Tuesdays and there will be a really big update when I finish my summer classes to make up for all that I've missed. They are a cute couple and yes, Luke Evans is one fine specimen of a man. When I saw the rose garden scene initially, it really reminded me of the original story of Dracula, so I think it almost makes it like he's seeing way into the future when he first gets turned. I may write some M rated chapters that I'll put up separately so the rating can stay down on this one, but I'll make sure to tell everyone what they're called and when I'm uploading them. But I'm excited to go forward with this story and thanks so much for the review!

Her Open Mind

Vlad was still reeling from the nightmare as he looked at Mina who looked at him in surprise and concern.

"Good morning." She said back, giving him a small worried smile, she reached forward and brushed a loose piece of hair away from his face. "Are you okay?" she asked. He sighed and nodded, trying to shake off the horror of his nightmare. It wasn't something easily remedied or ignored.

"I'm fine." He said quietly, kissing her forehead and hoping that he hadn't scared her too much in that moment.

"What was that?" she asked and he sighed, he had been hoping that she wouldn't ask but that was a rather lost cause.

"I… was having a nightmare." He explained "It was about the one who made me, as it often is, about him taking all that I love from me all over again, making me do horrific things that I never would do in my waking hours."

"Does this happen often?" she asked, running a hand down his cheek, he sighed and leaned into her touch "Not as much anymore, but now… now I'm worried about losing you." He said quietly and she smiled and kissed the tip of his nose.

"I'm not going anywhere." They both seemed to know that it wouldn't be by her own will that something should happen to her but they both ignored that idea for now, her word were enough to calm his racing mind and warm his cold heart. They just sat for a few moments, enjoying the slow Saturday morning as should be done with mid Saturday mornings. Then Mina leaned back against his chest and Vlad looked down to meet her eyes.

"So what was up with your face there a few minutes ago?" she asked, reaching up and poking the end of his nose, he twitched back slightly, surprised by the sudden action.

"What?" he asked, then realized that she meant his eyes, the way that his face changed when he truly let go of his instincts, let himself be the monster that he was. "Oh. Um… I was scared, and angry, that's just what happens, I'm not human anymore, I don't always look like one either."

"Can I see?" she asked and he sighed, there was no way he was going to be able to convince her otherwise.

"Are you sure?" he asked, hoping she'd say no, instead she just nodded and he sighed again, shaking his head, before closing his eyes and concentrating on the hunger in his belly the feel of being the monster and nothing else, the thrill of hunt, of battle. He opened his eyes again, and Mina looked a little surprised, he could only hold it for half a second as watching her face brought him back to himself.

"Sorry, it's… not like moving my arm, it's not something that I really control…"

"That's alright." She said, interrupting him before he could continue, "I just wanted to see what it was." Her stomach gave a loud gurgle then and she blushed furiously, Vlad just laughed,

"Perhaps it's time for breakfast?" he said with a grin. Mina nodded, her cheeks still bright red.

-Forever and a Day-

They both headed down to the kitchen and the former prince asked his girlfriend, his stomach fluttering with butterflies like he was a boy again when he thought of her that way, what she wanted for breakfast.

"I don't know, what do you want?" she asked him instead with typical female fashion. Vlad smirked

"I don't think what I want would agree with you so well." He said, and then she blinked and blushed again, seeming to realize her mistake, she was about say something else when he laughed and said "But I do think I'm going to make myself a cup of coffee, would you like one?" she nodded and he got the pot going

"You do like coffee?" she asked, remembering their conversation several weeks back at the coffee shop, one of their first dates. He nodded, pulling mugs from the cupboard and cream from the fridge

"I wasn't lying when I said the Turks made the best coffee either, now, when it comes to breakfast I suppose asking what you want is the wrong first question, I should be looking at what I have in the fridge."

"I noticed you don't have a lot of food in there." She said, opening the doors and eyeing the rather bare shelves. He walked up behind her and chuckled

"I don't eat much, hard to justify buying food when it'll just go bad." He said and looked the shelves up and down once himself, his eyes catching on a can of cinnamon rolls. He picked it up.

"Do you like these?" he asked, Mina nodded "Great." He said, turning to the oven and adjusting the temperature accordingly. As he got them ready, checking the can every once and a while, Mina poured the coffee into the mugs

"Do you want cream?" she asked, Vlad shook his head, popping the rolls in the oven as soon as the preheat turned off, set the timer and turned back to the blonde, who was just handing him a mug.

"Thanks." He said, taking a cautious sip, enjoying the way it warmed his throat.

"So…" Mina started "How often _do _you… well… eat?"

A/N: That was a really shitty stopping point, I know, but I couldn't think of anywhere else soon to leave it, and I also have a few other things that I want to take care of before I go to bed so… yeah.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	27. A Look of Surprise

A/N: Hello! Still typing in class… though I am taking all the notes and that's really all that matters for this class, it's where all the important info is so… yeah, paying attention isn't super necessary. Though my professor shouts a lot, it's pretty hilarious, he's awfully animated about what he talks about, and he's African so he has a really fun accent to listen to. :) So kind of paying attention? But also typing?

Disclaimer: It's in the air gap! (The flux)

A Look of Surprise

Mina had never thought that she would have the opportunity to say that she'd seen the famed Dracula himself staring at her uncomfortably. She smirked a little as he adjusted his stance, glancing at the oven timer as though it would save him, even though he'd just put the rolls inside.

"I uh…" he sighed then and looked up at her "do you really want to know that?" she nodded at him and he sighed again "Fairly regularly, every other week or so I go out and hunt, I don't always feed directly from people though." Mina nodded, she had expected something like that.

"Where do you get it? The blood, I mean." She asked, she wasn't sure why she was so curious about this, maybe because she had grown up thinking that vampires were myths and now there was one standing in front of her, or maybe because of simple morbid curiosity, either way, she could tell that Vlad wasn't super comfortable with her asking.

"I…" he blushed faintly and looked at the oven timer "I compel Red Cross workers to hold some for me at blood drives." Mina couldn't help the loud blurt of laughter that escaped her lips. Vlad grumbled under his breath and sipped his coffee grouchily, Mina just laughed harder at his expression.

"I'm sorry," she said "it's just that… I feel like they almost deserve it, they never stop calling, and if you answer… they never leave you alone." She was still laughing and heard Vlad sigh, seeming fed up with her antics. When Mina calmed down she looked over and saw the former prince leaning back against the counter, looking out the window at the mid-morning light, arm crossed over his chest. The blonde found herself thinking back to last night and all of a sudden it seemed to be a lot hotter in the room. Vlad looked over at her, an eyebrow raised, she blushed harder but stepped up to the man and pulled him down into a passionate, fiery kiss. She felt him suck in a surprised breath as she did and she smirked against his lips before getting sucked up into the moment herself.

Things were just about to get interesting when the oven timer shrilly reminded them of the cinnamon rolls they had been cooking, simultaneously Mina's phone started ringing from the living room where she'd left it last night. The couple both sighed

"The world is against us right now." The young blonde said and Vlad just chuckled and kissed her forehead before buttoning his shirt back up

"There'll be plenty of time for that later." He said, Mina raised a brow at him and smirked before standing to retrieve her phone before it went to voicemail. Vlad headed to the kitchen to save the cinnomony goodness from burning. Mina looked at her phone, surprised that it hadn't died in the middle of the night and answered the second she saw her sister's name.

"Hey Rebecca, what's up?" she asked, leaning back on the couch.

"I just wanted to see if you were still alive, you said that you'd tell me how your date went, I figured that since you hadn't called that Vlad turned out to be a crazy serial killer and you were dead, but I thought I should double check just in case you just forgot." Mina just smiled, her sister could certainly jump to conclusions, conclusions that now that she was thinking about it, weren't that far from the truth.

"I'm fine." She said, looking up from her phone as Vlad walked back in the room and handed her a plate, she mouthed a thank you at him and he smiled, sitting down next to her, steaming mug in hand.

"Well then?" Rebecca demanded, sounding way more awake than Mina preferred in her mid-morning Saturdays. The blonde heard grumbling in the background and laughed lightly when Jess's voice, indistinct and sleepy, sounded out something that she was sure meant shut up.

"Well, I'm actually still at his house." She said when the sounds on the other side quieted down.

"Shut up!" her sister said excitedly "Did you do the deed?" she asked and Mina felt her cheeks heat up when Vlad chuckled next to her.

"Yes…" she grumbled, blushing harder when Rebecca squeed.

"Was he any good? I bet he was good." Mina was about to just hang up in embarrassment as her sister continued to ramble. She looked over at Vlad who was doing his best to not burst into laughter. She punched his shoulder lightly and he just shook his head, still shaking in silent laughter.

"Yes." The blonde said flatly into the phone, and pulled it away from her ear as Rebecca started at it again, only louder this time. When she put the phone back to her face she could hear Jess asking what was going on, clearly giving up on the idea of sleep.

"Rebecca," Mina interrupted, her sister didn't answer. She jolted slightly when Vlad gently pulled the phone from her grip.

"Rebecca, I'm afraid I need to take your sister's attention again for a while." He said slyly and Mina felt her jaw fall open, he did _not _need to egg her on! He laughed at something she said and then replied

"I will." And then he ended the call, smirking as though he'd just won the lottery. Mina fumed

"What did she say to you?" Vlad grinned, exposing a single fang

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

A/N: Hahahaha, Vlad you're digging yourself a hole and you don't even know it XD

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	28. A Look of Anger

A/N: More typing in class, I'm still a terrible student

Disclaimer: Woot woot

Guest: I usually post this one on Tuesdays, but I'm a bit off right now, I'm glad you like it so much though! Thanks for the review!

Guest: I like the cute steamy stuff too :3 It's a fun border to dance on, thanks so much for the review!

A Look of Anger

Vlad felt his grin start to slip when Mina's look of anger didn't fade, instead, upon hearing his last comment, she just started to look furious.

"What. Did. She. Say." She demanded, each word a command in and of itself, Vlad leaned back on the couch, feeling more than a little intimidated. He shouldn't be, he was an extremely powerful vampire, and she a mere mortal but the look she was giving could've frozen armies in fear.

"She said to make sure to give you a good time" he said nervously, hoping to appease her by just giving in and telling her.

"Did she now…?" the blonde had one pale eyebrow raised, looking for all the world like the definition of an unspoken threat.

"Yes…?" Vlad couldn't help but speak the word as a question, he wasn't sure what she wanted in this moment.

"Are you sure…?" she asked, moving everything out of the way and crawling onto his lap, fingers dancing over his covered chest.

"Pretty sure…" the vampire said slowly, still wondering what Mina was after, he liked where this was going but he couldn't shake the anxiety building in his stomach.

"Hmmm…" Mina's fingers danced for another couple of agonizing seconds before abruptly digging into his sides. Vlad howled with laughter at the unexpected action, he hadn't been tickled in… well a very, very long time and time had made him very sensitive to the action. He eventually managed to roll them over and pull Mina's hands away from the weak points on his sides but the damage had already been done. She knew where his spots were.

"That…. Was not smart." He was trying to be spooky, at least in a playful sort of way but his lack of breath didn't help him in that regard. Mina simply tried to get a handle on her giggling beneath him.

"I took down the king of vampires with my bare hands." She giggled, wiggling her fingers in his direction. He scowled

"Judging by where I now have you, I'd say that you hardly took me down." He said, loving the way her eyes lit up at the challenge.

"I think I could take you down if I wanted to." She replied, leaning up to breathe the words into his ear. Vlad couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine at the suggestion.

"Could you now?" he said, his lips brushing hers in their proximity.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe."

-Forever and a Day-

Some time later found the two of them laying comfortably on Vlad's bed, looking lovingly at each other as they wound down from their experience.

"That…" Vlad sighed "was amazing…." He hadn't done such things in a very, very long time. At least not since he had been with Mirena, even then though, some ideas weren't common practice in his time when it came to making love, not like they were now…

"You're telling me." Mina said back, though he still noticed her wince when she touched a spot on her neck.

"I'm sorry." He said, guilt washing through him, he hadn't even bitten her and yet, he had still injured her in a way.

"It's fine!" Mina said quickly, too quickly, Vlad frowned "It's just going to be one hell of a hickey, that's for sure." She said this with a smile but the former prince couldn't help but think that he had caused her pain and that was just something he didn't want to do.

"Let me see." He said and felt his lip twitch when Mina rolled her eyes at him. "Just let me see." He insisted.

"Fine, fine." She acquiesced, tilting her head to the side. Vlad looked at the area and to his irritation, he could already see a bruise forming where he'd sucked far too hard on her neck.

"I'm sorry, I was too rough with you." He said, worrying his lip between his teeth, although her neck did provide further temptation, it had been hard enough in the midst of the act not to just bite down in a moment of passion… he shook his head, he couldn't think such things about Mina. He wouldn't bring her into this life again, wouldn't force his nature upon her.

Though she's already a part of your world… a small part of him spoke up, he pushed it back down. She wanted to know… he reasoned with himself, looking back at Mina, who was now laughing.

"Too rough? Since clearly my shouts were not enough to tip you off, I very much enjoyed the rough treatment." Vlad felt his cheeks flush at her words. He knew how much more open about sex the world was now but it still felt… wrong… awkward? Yes, awkward to him to hear things so blatantly stated.

"I… I'm glad you enjoyed yourself…" he said, still blushing. This of course just made Mina laugh harder.

"We literally just had sex and you can't even talk about it. You are the definition of old fashioned. What did you people talk about in those days?"

"We still talked about it, we were just more… subtle about it." He said defiantly, Mina was still smirking. Vlad grumbled and stood to gather his clothes.

"So what do you want to do with the rest of today?" she asked, getting the idea and pulling on her own garments.

"You're the guest." He said, he didn't care, as long as he got to be with her.

"I don't know, you're the host." She shot back, but he could see that she was still contemplating it all the same. "We could go shopping, or I wouldn't mind exploring your library…" Vlad smiled, it had taken him a long time to acquire all those books but he was still proud of his collection all the same.

"Or little dove, you might want to be out of the way for a while…" came a third voice and Vlad felt himself tense in anger.

A/N: I know, I know, I'm working on the amount I owe you so… yeah.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	29. An Aching Hunger

A/N: Yup, working on it, I know I'm late.

Disclaimer: Kablooey

Guest: I'm soooo sorry that I didn't post last week, I was kind of not motivated to do anything… like at all… Either way, I hope this chapter makes up for it! Thanks for the review!

Anna: I'm glad you like it! I tried to pull up the link you sent me but it won't open :( I want to see it… Thanks for the review!

Mina felt a shiver run up her spine at the voice, it was slimy and wriggled into her ears in a manner that she wasn't fond of at all. Though at the same time, it was a voice that had a sort of power, a sort of majesty to it all the same, and maybe that was why she didn't like it. She knew who it was before even laying eyes on them for the first time. It was a man, a creature she had never seen but the description that Vlad had given her was enough to know by the voice that it could be no one else.

"Get out of my home." Vlad growled. It wasn't the kind of playful growls he'd given her, this was anger and rage and malice wrapped into a single sound.

"My poor prince, I am the one who gave you your power, your life and you command me from your home without hearing me out." Vlad snarled and the man gave a light huff "I see how it is." The man almost seemed to fly forward in that moment and pin Vlad back against the wall. "Perhaps I have forgotten in my old age, but I do believe that you encroached upon _my _home all those years ago as well." Vlad simply grunted in response, clawing at the hand on his throat. The Master vampire turned to look and Mina and the blonde froze. Her legs felt as though they had been turned to stone in a single glance. Some back part of her mind almost wanted to check to ensure that they _hadn't_ in fact, turned to stone.

"Here she is, the lovely Mina, all over again, how many times will you fail at this my fledgling?" he glanced at the vampire he had pinned against the wall.

"Please… let him go…" Mina whispered, all she was capable of making her throat say in her fear locked state.

"Oh I wouldn't be so worried about him my dear, not at the moment." The Master said and Mina felt able enough to back up a step "No, no, I'm not going to hurt you, it's far too much fun to watch the young prince screw things up again and again. For all of eternity." With each word he took a step forward, releasing Vlad from his grip and the younger vampire fell to the ground, coughing and trying to clear his airway again. Mina felt her back press up against the wall and she shivered as the creature before her looked into her eyes so deeply that she was sure that he must see every secret that she'd ever kept in her entire life.

"You are such a sweet innocent flower," he said and she thought that she almost saw a whisper of guilt in that wrinkled face. "I hate to take that away from you…"

"Don't you dare lay a single hand on her…" came the growl from the ground as Vlad stood again, challenging his maker once more. "You won't hurt her, you will leave here, now and never come to torment me or my loved ones again." He stood, eye to eye with the ancient being in front of him and then the Master laughed, leaning back with mirth, entertained by the whole scenario

"You think you can challenge me boy?" He said, his face suddenly changed, seeming darker, more agitated, angered and yet, Mina could see that he was weighed down by something, something that went far beyond any of their understanding she was sure. "You know nothing of which you speak, I gave you a small sample of my power, a taste, nothing more. You are meant to be my pawn, you are meant to serve me, I have allowed you freedom but perhaps I have allowed for too much." His voice was low, growling now, he looked over to Mina and she flinched, terrified of what was going to come.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her!" Vlad snarled, taking another step forward, he was ready to die for the woman before him, he had given up his humanity for her once, and she had died for him, he felt it was long past the time that he did the same for her.

"Oh, I wouldn't be worried about me hurting her." The ancient being said with a twisted grin, stepping up to the former prince. And then the two moved so rapidly that Mina had difficulty following it, all she knew is that there was a couple of snarls and then Vlad was on the ground, blood pooling around him and the Master was flicking blood from his claw-like fingers.

"I would worry about yourself." And with that he disappeared.

Mina dropped to her knees next to Vlad, trying to reach for him, trying to ascertain the damage that had been done.

"Vlad!" she exclaimed, trying to get him to roll over.

"Don't!" he managed, coughing, flecks of blood coming up with it. He was in so much pain now, his chest burned, his throat felt like ice… and there was poor Mina, trying to help him, trying to help the creature that right now wanted nothing more than to tear into her and eat her alive.

"Why?" she said softly, he could feel the heat of her hands hovering right over his face, oh how he wanted so badly to bite into those delicate wrists… he could hear her heart beat like a pounding bass drum in the background, he couldn't though, couldn't take her life away from her, not like this. He could still taste the Master's blood on his tongue, the harsh, dark taste that reminded him of the day he was turned…

-Forever and a Day-

"Drink, Dracula." The man had said, he remembered all too well the stench of that cave, the eeriness of the man's gaze, the moist, rotten taste to the air. He had lifted that crushed skull to his lips and drank the man's still warm blood, choking on the thick, metallic liquid. At the time it had been a chore to try and even swallow it, for he didn't have the bloodlust that he now lived with. He coughed as the blood burned like liquor down his throat and settled in his belly like a blazing fire, his heart was pounding something fierce and black spots collected at the edge of his vision.

"What now?" he managed, the ragged husk of a man had looked at him, something akin to glee in his gaze.

"Now, you die." He said and for a moment Vlad was sure he'd been tricked, that the man had poured some poison into the skull and now he was going to die and be drained of his blood just like his comrades had been. His balance failed him and he stumbled, senses spinning and too dull to register the pain of hitting the rocks like a rag doll. The black spots clouded his vision and then… then he knew no more…

The next time he had awoken, he was far down river from the mountain, far from the monstrosity that had told him that he would make him into a monster with the power to save his people. The man hadn't lied, no at the time Vlad felt like a new person, he could see farther than he ever had before, hear things no other man could… but it hadn't taken long for the hunger to set in. It was easily ignored in the heat of battle, in the wonder of his new forms and the discovery of the strength of many men. But before the end of the night… he had taken notice of the blistering icy hunger in his stomach and that ached in his teeth…

-Forever and a Day-

Vlad came to as Mina was shaking his shoulder and as he did, reregistering the pain in his chest and the building hunger within. The blonde had rolled up her sleeve and was about to press a blade to her own wrist when Vlad shot upright.

"What are you thinking?!" he demanded, terrified of her hurting herself.

"I… you weren't waking up…" she said, looking terrified herself

"So you thought that…" he grunted, putting a hand to his chest, there was a gaping hole in it again for the second time in far too soon. "slicing yourself open would help how?" he demanded, she flinched and then her face hardened. She seemed to have learned to know when he was angry for her sake and when he was just angry.

"I don't know how vampires work Vlad, I was sure that giving you blood would help if nothing else." She snapped angrily, she looked at his ruined shirt and the wound beneath it and he could see the edges of her face turn a little green. "Are you… going to be okay?" she asked and he nodded, unsure of how else to respond.

"I should be, it's not even the first time I've had a hole put in me this week." He tried to joke but Mina was falling for it.

"Please, Vlad, tell me what I can do to help…" she implored. He winced again and tried to think past the ache of hunger and the throbbing pain.

"In…. in the drawer in the fridge… there might be blood in there… I… can't remember right now…" he closed his eyes as he tried to think and heard the pat-pat-pat of Mina's feet as she bolted to the kitchen. Moments later she returned and brought with her the smell of cinnamon, reminding the vampire that it wasn't far past morning and that not too long ago they had been snuggled safely in bed as most couples usually were after a very, _very_ good night. Alongside the smell of cinnamon there was another scent, one that caused a low, hungry growl to leak past his lips unbidden. He opened his eyes and saw Mina back up slightly, he knew he had to look more like a feral animal in this moment than a person but it didn't matter, all that mattered was the object she was holding out to him. He grabbed it and tore off the corner with sharpened teeth before sucking down its contents like a man rescued from the desert. It ran dry far quicker than the former prince had hoped and he took a large gasping breath afterward. It hadn't done much to abate his hunger, though the wound on his chest had barely started to close, less of a hole now and more of an open wound. Mina was watching him with wide eyes.

"I… I'm a little better now… was there… any more than what you brought?" he asked softly as to not scare her. She shook her head

"No, I brought the only one that was in there." She said, she took a deep breath and then squatted down next to him.

"Vlad… What I had offered before, that offer still stands." The vampire looked at her, he likely wouldn't hurt her at this point but he didn't want to bring her closer to what he was… "I can tell that you need this." She said, her eyes warm and open.

"I… I… Are you sure about this?" he said, she just met his eyes and nodded, the perfect picture of the wife he had lost the same way all those years ago.

"I am."

A/N: I'm an awful person!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	30. A Taste So Sweet

A/N: Alright, and away we go again, between this week and next week I should be able to get through most if not all of the make up chapter (ie thousands of words) that I owe you guys. Cause I really do feel guilty when I don't update often. So since just before the spring semester let out I started keeping track of how many chapters I owe you guys and here we go with the what I do, some of it will be in the chapter for this week (which will likely be a little late), and next week but I will also be posting an M rated chapter for this fic just to satisfy myself and those who want it and those words will also go towards the final count. Don't worry though, you won't be missing any major story points in the M rated chapter, I don't want to take away from the main fic either. Anywho, I'll stop rambling and get on with this monster.

Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. Dracula. (you put pauses in there, I know you did ;))

Guest: I do in fact write smut, I've written quite a lot of smut… and don't worry, I'll let you guys know what the oneshot's called so you can look it up, cause there'll be a oneshot of some good Vlad and Mina smut. Thanks for the review!

Anna: I'm adding more now! Don't panic! OMG I found it, that is so freaking cute! I love that he bought her the flowers in it! :3 Thanks so much for the review!

A Taste So Sweet

Vlad took a deep breath, despite how much he wanted this he wasn't sure he was ready for it either. He didn't want to hurt Mina, didn't want to prove the Master right with his actions. He knew that the ancient bastard would know about this, he always knew things, it drove the vampire crazy with how accurate he was.

"Are you really sure?" he asked, though his fangs pounded in time with her heartbeat, she looked at him.

"It's just a little blood Vlad, you act like I've never had blood drawn or donated it before, the only weird thing about this is the method and where it's going afterward." He raised his eyebrows at her and she sighed, rolling her eyes at the same time "Yes, I'm sure." She said, and that was when Vlad loosened the restraints on the monster inside of himself. He leaned forward, cradling her head in his hands, tilting it back and to the side, giving himself enough room to get what he needed. He just held that position for a moment, inhaling the sweet scent that lifted off of her skin, he couldn't help but to enjoy it, he could feel Mina chuckle nervously at he did. His fingers instinctively wrapped into her short hair, keeping her head tied to one spot and keeping her from moving it.

"Try not to move, this will probably hurt…" he said, leaning down to where her neck met her shoulder, a spot that was less obvious and also wouldn't cause as much permanent damage. His tongue unconsciously ran over the area where her blood pulsed stronger, and it picked up at he did just as he bit down. His fangs broke the skin with little resistance, her blood flowed thick and warm into his hungry throat and he couldn't help the sigh that escaped him. It tasted almost the same as it had all those years ago, almost the very same as his Mirena, this one wasn't as much his yet as Mirena had been but she still had accepted him in almost the same no nonsense fashion that his wife had.

Mina flinched when she felt Vlad's teeth in her shoulder, though the pain dulled quickly and was replaced with a warm, pulsing pleasure that reminded her all too easily of other activities and despite having her blood drawn she felt her cheeks flare a bright hot red. The vampire on her shoulder sighed through his nose, his breath cool on her shoulder, it had surprised her that he had gone for her shoulder rather than her throat, she would have thought that that would have been his first instinct. She was trying to relax but couldn't find it in herself to do so, she was too filled with excitement in the form of a bite and whatever drug or magic was tingling in her veins at the moment.

Vlad gave up sooner than he would have liked but he didn't want to come even close to hurting her right now. Not when the Master's ominous words still rang in his ears. He hadn't been wrong before and he didn't want to prove him right again. And so he pulled away, licking over the area a few times as to not let what leaked out on its own go to waste.

"Don't stop…" Mina whispered and Vlad leaned back, looking at her curiously

"Mina?" he asked, propping up all of her weight now rather than just her head. She sat up a little sloppily and grinned at him, her eyes slightly glazed

"That wasn't that bad." She said "It was actually kinda nice…" she said and Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"I… uh, are you okay, I didn't think I took too much but maybe I did…"

"No, no… I just… wow…" she seemed to be coming down from her high but slowly, not as swiftly as Vlad would have liked.

"I'm going to have you lay down." He said, lifting her easily to her feet.

"No! You're still hurt! …" she paused and he could feel her hand on the bare skin of his chest. "Thas kinda creepy." She said, still trying to get full function of her own mouth and tongue, they both felt kinda fuzzy, like when she was drunk, or at least a little tipsy.

"I'll be okay, you helped fix me up more than you know." He lay her gently on the couch. "Just stay here for a minute, okay?" he said, and then changed forms, disappearing in a flurry of tiny wings.

Mina felt completely back to her normal state of mind when Vlad exploded into a storm of bats and just vanished into the rest of the huge house. He reappeared only a few seconds later, practically materializing out of thin air.

"You said you could do that but…" Mina watched him with wide eyes, still waiting for it to happen again without warning.

"Sorry, I didn't meant to frighten you, here drink this." He handed her a glass of what had to be lemonade and immediately began tending to her shoulder with stinging peroxide

"Ow!" Mina yelped, nearly spilling her drink "Some warning next time!" Vlad smiled sheepishly and just went back to tending her wound with gentler hands this time. "What do you think you're going to infect me with some crazy bacteria or is your mouth just that dirty?" she raised a brow, Vlad blushed

"I bite a lot of things, besides, it's better safe than sorry." He said softly, continuing his work. Mina took a sip of the drink and nearly choked on it. Vlad started back in concern, his hands lifted to help her.

"No, no, it's just really cold." She said past the lemonade in her lungs, Vlad seemed to relax slightly and pointed at the drink

"Keep drinking it, it's got sugar in it, it'll help keep you from passing out." He said, Mina waved him off, she didn't even feel as lightheaded as she normally did when she gave blood.

"I'll be fine, why's it so cold?"

"I just made the concentrate… it's all I had…" the vampire sighed, seeming apologetic for his lack of food in the house.

"Do you at least have chocolate?" she asked and Vlad made a flat face at her.

"What kind of person would I be if I didn't have some chocolate, though… I hope you like dark chocolate, that's the only kind I keep…"

"That's splendid, here, give me the bandages, I know how to tape up my own wounds." Vlad vanished again, this time he took longer and Mina had time to finish putting a large square bandaid over the wounds, they were a little more extensive than she had anticipated, but then again, he was trying to take her blood, two tiny holes weren't going to cut it. The former prince appeared before her again, a box in his hand and looking noticeably cleaner than he had before.

"So don't tell me that you usually ruin that many nice shirts in a week." Mina joked, looking at the more comfortable t-shirt he'd opted for. It was strange to see him in ordinary clothing, perhaps it was just the air of aristocracy about him, perhaps the otherworldly feel, either way, seeing him in a t-shirt with a cartoon dinosaur on it made her laugh.

"No…" he grumbled and then blushed at her laughter "why are you laughing?"

"You just look so… ordinary. What with the t-shirt and sweatpants." She gestured and he simply grumbled at her

"I'm allowed to like comfortable clothes too." He sat down next to her all the same, pulling a box out of what felt like nowhere and opening the lid. It looked a hell of a lot nicer than what she always went for when it came to chocolate, then again she usually just glided past the clearance section at the supermarket. He offered it to her and she looked at the small dark ovals inside and selected one carefully, lifting it and taking a bite. Mina closed her eyes as to better appreciate the taste.

"Oh god…" she whispered around the rich and slightly bitter gooeyness in her mouth, the raspberry filling adding the perfect amount of sweetness to the treat. She quickly popped the rest of it into her mouth to as to keep it from melting all over her hand. She could hear Vlad laughing in the background but she didn't care, this was amazing, where on earth did he get this.

"I have friends over in Belgium." He said and Mina simply hummed in pure happiness, no chocolate was ever again going to compare to this… "It's hard to find other human foods that I actually enjoy, this is one of them, but I think since you offered me something much sweeter that I should probably share, it would only be polite." The blonde swallowed, trying to find her tongue in the sticky, rich sweetness that was her mouth.

"It's amazing." She managed and then after a second his words actually sank in "Wait did you just comment on the taste of my blood?" she raised an eyebrow at him. He blushed a little bit

"Yes, I can't enjoy it?" he said, looking at her with those intense eyes that varied between bright green and a dark black. "It was sweet, the only sweeter was perhaps…" he trailed off, seeming to be caught in his memories

"Was it your wife?" she asked, and the former prince looked up at her again

"Yes, though Mehmet's was sweet with pure vengeance." He said and Mina gave a small smile, it was kind of funny in a twisted kind of way

"They do say that vengeance is sweet." She said softly, Vlad chuckled and pulled her lightly against him.

"Mina, I'm fairly certain that I love you." She pushed back, setting her glass on the table next to the couch and looking up into his eyes

"Only fairly certain?" she said and he grinned, baring a single fang, though not in hunger, this was the more playful side of his monster as she was coming to learn.

"I love you you little spitfire." He said and then leaned in close and the blonde tilted her head back to receive a kiss, only to have the lemonade glass put back in her hands.

"But! You need to relax and finish that juice before anything else. I'm not going to let you endanger yourself for no reason." He said and Mina grumbled at him but accepted the drink.

"Fine. How long do I have to wait Mom?" she asked snarkily. Vlad rolled his eyes

"Until I say so dear." Mina giggled but continued to sip on the icy cold juice.

-Forever and a Day-

It wasn't until late that evening that Mina left, feeling exhausted and worn down from the events of the past couple days. It was hard to think that just a day ago she had found out that her boyfriend was the legendary Dracula himself. That certainly wasn't something that anyone just accepted and moved on with was it? At least that's what she thought it should be but it felt more like the contrary, so her boyfriend was the most infamous of all vampires, big deal, she was more concerned with his maker, the man who wanted to use him as a pawn, the one who delighted in causing his underling pain. Mina wasn't sure she'd be able to concentrate at work tomorrow at all, let alone survive dinner tonight with her sister. It was never anything fancy when the two girls ate dinner together, often they'd just order in, usually the nights that Jenny was off babysitting her young niece and nephew they'd get spicy Tai as her sister's girlfriend couldn't handle the heat.

Rebecca squealed upon entering her sister's apartment, carrying the delicious smelling food and the next season of their current binge show. Mina wanted to roll her eyes at her sister's reaction, though she had to suppose that she brought this upon herself. She'd never been interested in guys, and while her sister hadn't been either she'd dated a couple that she said were serious and she tried to have serious relationships with. Mina just had never done that, every relationship that she had ever been in was just for fun right from the very start, both of them knew it and if the guy didn't then he was dropped faster than the hot end of a curling iron. Now there was Vlad… How on earth was she going to explain the past couple days to Rebecca?

"So! How was it!?" her grin was slightly unnerving Mina with the mischief it promised. Mina sighed and shook her head, helping her sister unpack the food.

"It was… good."

"C'mon Mina, you gotta give me the details, was he good in bed, I know you two did the deed but you gotta tell me how he was." Mina blushed, thinking back on the night that had been filled with passion after the initial shock of finding out that her boyfriend was undead and one of the strongest mythical monsters of all time.

"Ugh…" the blonde said as they grabbed both chopsticks and forks and plopped down on the couch. "He was… intense, he has so much passion for everything he does."

"Including sex." Rebecca said this as a statement rather than a question, Mina huffed

"Yes, including sex."

"Did you guys do anything particularly… adventurous?" the dirty blonde wiggled her eyebrows and Mina just laughed though her thoughts went to how much attention he had paid to her pulse point and then to later when he actually had bit her… the euphoria that had dashed through her veins… that would most definitely be pushing to be brought into the bedroom.

"No," she said "it was fairly vanilla, but that was okay, it was… meaningful." Rebecca smiled genuinely when she said this.

"He's the one for you isn't he?" she asked, Mina blushed but actually considered the question, she wasn't sure how things would work out considering what he was, but… at the same time… he was a loving and caring man… she flashed back to when he told her who she was to him, the reincarnate of his wife from oh so long ago. It both slightly creeped her out and touched her heart that he had such a devotion to just one person for so long, he had said that just because she was a reincarnate that that didn't change how he felt about _her_ as a person. That if anything meant a lot to her.

"He very well might be." She said, the two girls were silent for just a couple minutes, scarfing down their food and thinking. Eventually Rebecca looked up at her and smirked again.

"So what did everyone at work think of your mega hicky there?" she pointed to the bandaid on Mina's neck. The blonde touched a hesitant hand to it.

"Oh, this? I don't know if anyone noticed it…" she said, Rebecca just laughed

"Oh they noticed it, I'm sure they were just wondering what kind of kinky weekend you had, she said and Mina blushed furiously, hoping that her sister wasn't right on this one.

"You're awful." She told her older sibling

"I'm not the one with the hicky covered with a bandaid." She said, reaching forward "It can't be that bad."

"Don't!" Mina said, leaning back, though Rebecca thought that she was just being coy

"Oh, come on, it can't actually be that bad." She managed to grab the edge of the bandage and peel back the corner, and then she stopped when she saw the rusty red that coated the white gauze part. She whistled "Didn't do anything that adventurous my ass, he actually broke the skin, that's pretty kinky stuff right there." She looked at Mina's downcast face

"You were actually okay with that right?" she said carefully, Mina looked back up at her sister and nodded vigorously.

"I asked him to…" Rebecca started laughing harder

"You kinky bitch!" she slapped her sister on the shoulder and the younger blonde sighed inwardly, she could handle her sister's teasing, she had no desire for Becca to think that she was crazy because of the truth.

"Yeah, yeah, are you done interrogating me yet? I want to get a few episodes in before we need to go to bed." She grumbled, Rebecca kept chuckling to herself but got up get the TV ready. Mina pulled the rest of the old bandaid off, the adhesive was wearing thin anyway. The dirty blonde sat back down on the couch and whistled

"Does that hurt? It looks pretty rough." Mina touched her fingers to the spot, remembering the feeling of Vlad's teeth in her neck and his lips on her skin as he clung to her like a drowning man to a lifeboat.

"It's nothing I can't handle."

A/N: Okay, so I'm sorry that this is a bit late and not as long as I'd like but I'd like to get something out to you people before Monday, more of the catchup will be thrown into the next chapter, I was a bit distracted this week as I was typing up my backstory for my new DnD character, we just started our campaign tonight and it's pretty fun!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	31. A Mystery Quite Intriguing

A/N: Hey guys! So this chapter gets priority over my other fictions right now because technically the next chapters for my other stuff are brand new fics that are continuations of the previous, so Forever and a Day first it is. Also I wish you guys could see what I'm eating right now, my cooking skills have definitely improved (and by that I mean I've gotten better at making shit up because that's really all cooking is…), I made stir-fry and it's delicious :3

Disclaimer: I own my stir-fry?

A Mystery Quite Intriguing

Mina thought she wasn't going to make it through the week at work, it wasn't terribly busy in the office and Carl kept asking her questions that she'd rather not answer.

"Listen Carl, I appreciate your concern, but I can handle myself in a relationship thank you very much."

"But really Mina, how much do you know about this guy?" Mina stood up, ignoring her desk neighbor's comment in favor of heading to the break room to get another cup of coffee. She navigated the halls quickly and grabbed a mug from the cupboard only to close it and jump nearly out of her skin as she realized that she wasn't the only on in the room.

"Oh, hi Pam." She said, one hand over her heart in her mild panic. She'd felt so antsy lately but perhaps it was just having to deal with the stress of finding out all the scary stories you were told as a kid were true and that monsters really do lurk in the dark. Pam just grinned at her

"Carl getting on your nerves?" she asked and Mina nodded

"You have no idea." She said and Pam chuckled

"I think I do, I used to be his deskmate until I requested to change and that was just about the time they hired you. I swear that guy gets a crush on just about anything with boobs." Mina paused, blinking at the stocky blonde.

"You think he has a crush on me?" she asked and Pam laughed wholeheartedly

"Honey, like I told you, that man gets a crush on anything with boobs. He very much has a crush on you. Now he probably thinks that you are just playing hard to get by saying you have a boyfriend, if I were you I would show him a picture of the two of you together, that might get him to tone down the "concern for your wellbeing"." Mina paused, she didn't have any pictures of herself and Vlad, Pam seemed to be able to read this in her face

"Oh, you don't have any pictures?" she said in surprise and then shook her head "Honey you've been dating this man for what? A couple months? Where on earth are your pictures of the two of you, at least something to make your phone background or your facebook profile while it lasts." Mina blushed and then thought about it, I rather funny thought crossing her mind, could she even take pictures with Vlad? She wondered

"What? You think it's funny that I'm beginning to doubt your words about meeting a Mr. Tall dark and handsome?"

"No, he's just camera shy." She said, still giggling at her own joke.

"I call bullshit." The other office worker said "You better get him to warm up to it real quick or you'll have the great word of Pam saying that you're a liar and there is no Mr. tall dark and handsome." Mina rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her coffee now that it had cooled down from scalding hot to just slightly burn your tastebuds hot.

"You spread every rumor you hear Pam, I wonder why anyone believes you at this point."

"Because I spread the truth just as much as the rumors, it keeps people on their toes, wondering what's true and what's just gossip." She winked at Mina and started out the door, her own mug of coffee in hand "Good luck honey." The blonde thought back to her current predicament and groaned inwardly, how on earth was she going to deal with Carl for the rest of today, let alone the rest of this week? She wasn't going to see Vlad again until this weekend, as he said he had some stocking up to do in his kitchen. The whole room had been so bare that she wasn't sure if he legitimately meant food or if he was code talking for robbing the Red Cross. He also said that he did in fact have a job to do during the week, even if it was on his own time and from his own home. Right now the blonde was extremely jealous of him. She started walking down the hall, figuring that she might as well make those copies that she had meant to earlier in the day. As she walked she pulled out her phone, thankfully her boss was fairly lax in the office, if you had been getting work done and weren't excessive about it, he didn't care if any of them were texting or taking a call or two.

'So'… she texted to Vlad, hoping that he was up at this hour, it was ten but still he was mostly nocturnal… 'If I take a picture of you will you show up in it?' she slipped her phone back into her pocket and waited for a response. The copier wasn't even done when she felt it buzz, she pulled it out to see a confused and very sleepy picture of Vlad in their message log.

'I thought vampires weren't supposed to show up in pictures…' she taunted

'Right.' He said 'Forgot about that." She received a picture of an empty pillow, clearly just the other side of the bed. 'That better?' the blonde had to do her best to not burst into loud laughter then and there. As it was she was chuckling behind her hand. When she had mildly recovered she texted back.

'Why don't we have any pictures as a couple?' there was a slight pause, presumably as he was typing

'I forget about those kinds of things, they didn't exactly have cameras back in my day.' She rolled her eyes

'Next time I see you we're going to take some pictures.'

'Okay, until then I'm going back to sleep.'

'Lazybones.'

'Hey, you didn't have to hypnotize a half dozen people last night. I'd like to see you try it and get up against your instincts the next day just to answer text messages.' Mina grabbed the papers from the copier and started down the hall as she answered

'Oh boo hoo, I'm sorry I interrupted your duties as the prince of darkness.'

'I've never heard that one before, I like it, you should make me that in your phone.'

'Go back to bed.'

'Love you.' The blonde smiled at his response

'Love you too.' Mina had just reached her desk and nearly leapt for joy when she saw that Carl had left for an early lunch.

-Forever and a Day-

It wasn't until many hours later that Vlad actually got up for the short remainder of the day, he looked back at the texts that he had exchanged with Mina and could help but chuckle at some of them all over again. He particularly enjoyed the idea of being the prince of darkness in her phone, that would confuse her family but not enough to make them question him, they'd likely think that it was a harmless joke between the two of them. The vampire was still in a good mood when he descended to the kitchen, remembering that he had spent the better half of the previous night satisfying his hunger and restocking the blood supply that he kept to tide him over between hunts. He pulled out some of the blood that he'd oh so kindly taken off of the Red Cross's hands and carefully poured it into a mug. He had to go shopping at the actual grocery tonight, he didn't want to be in the same position as last week where he'd had nothing to feed poor Mina when she'd been hungry. It was hard to remember what it was like to require food so often, sure he was hungry virtually all the time but he didn't actually require blood as often as a human needed to eat. The microwave dinged and the former prince pulled out the now steaming mug, swirling the contents within to break up any chunks that had form as a result of heating it. He took a sip and winced slightly, it wasn't nearly as good as the catch he'd had last night… and even that paled in comparison to Mina's blood.

Perhaps he was just biased, her blood, or his wife's blood rather, had been the first he'd tasted as an immortal creature and despite what science would say was impossible, they tasted very much the same. There were differences, for sure, they were two separate people, but it was the same soul, the same _life_ that the blood carried. Thinking back on the moment only made the second sip from the mug taste even more bland. Sure it tided him over and sure it satisfied him but… there were just so many chemicals in it, that and it tasted heavily of the plastic that it was carried in… Vlad grumbled to himself and carried the mug to his office where he planned on getting some work done for the day. It wasn't an easy task to accomplish, he most definitely didn't want to do work, he just wanted to call Mina, tell her to take the rest of the day off of work and come join him for a late afternoon picnic or maybe just an evening in front of the fireplace… he mused as he emailed a client and started filling out their paperwork to have it go through, today was going to be absolutely mind numbing wasn't it? How on earth was he going to survive the rest of the week. He'd lived for hundreds of years and now all of a sudden just a couple days seemed like an eternity. It made him smile all the same, it was proof that he was in love all over again, after the last time he had nearly sworn that he would never love again, not if it was going to hurt so bad if she rejected him. But now… now she had accepted him as though it were as easy as breathing, him, the monster that he was. Vlad chuckled and leaned back in his chair, what was the world coming to…?

-Forever and a Day-

The weekend couldn't come quick enough for the new couple, Friday Mina stepped out of the office only to see Vlad waiting for her. Pam stopped and whistled,

"Who's the hottie waiting on the steps?" she wondered aloud, Mina grinned in victory

"That's Vlad, that's mister tall dark and handsome." She said and was treated to the sight of Pam's jaw nearly hitting the pavement

"Mina! Come back and explain how you got that!" she demanded as the blonde dashed forward and hooked her arm with the former prince's

"I think your coworker's trying to say something." He said to her, looking almost nervously back at Pam. Mina patted his shoulder

"Don't worry, Pam doesn't bite, most of the time," she amended quickly, Vlad raised a brow

"I thought that was my job…" Pam caught up with them then.

"Hi!" she said, sticking out a hand which Vlad took with only a small worried glance back at Mina. "I'm Pam, Mina says that you're mister tall dark and handsome that she's been seeing lately?" Vlad blushed at the complement and Pam looked at her office friend, holding a hand in front of her face and mouthing "nice catch." At Mina, who giggled.

"I suppose?" Vlad said hesitantly, unsure of how he was supposed to respond, "My name is Vlad, it's nice to meet you Pam. I was just coming to walk Mina back home, I offered to drive her to her parents' house for dinner." Pam looked as happy as a clam rested her face in her hand

"Oh you two are adorable, well don't let me hold you up, go on!" with that she shooed them off and off they went

"I feel like it's been forever," Mina said as they started walking, sure they had texted all week but it wasn't the same, both of them too busy to try and meet up outside of work, particularly with Vlad being back on more of a nocturnal schedule. "I thought the weekend would never come." Vlad nodded, taking her hand gently in his own

"I know, I couldn't even concentrate on finishing any books this week, I was just too wrapped up in when it would be Friday again." Mina shoved his shoulder lightly

"You butt, I wish I had time to read like that,"

"There'll be time this weekend." He said and the blonde thought back to the huge library in his home

They spent the rest of the time discussing Vlad's massive collection of books and where he'd gotten all of them over the years. Some of the answers surprised her, like how many weren't in Romanian or English.

"How many languages do you speak?" she asked in surprise, the former prince paused, concentrating on the road for a second

"That's a tricky question to answer, because some of the ones I know I learned years ago and I would sound rather silly and old fashioned trying to speak them now. English isn't the same now as it was a hundred or three hundred years ago, same goes for any other language, and some of them I haven't spoken in at least a hundred years."

"In total, because I'm sure modernizing your vocabulary is a hell of a lot easier than learning from scratch." Vlad thought about it for a moment

"Ten? Twelve? Hard to say, some have kind of merged together and are just different dialects of the same language now." Mina couldn't help but be more than a little impressed.

"Yeesh, how do you keep them all straight?" she asked and Vlad just chuckled

"I don't, most of the time my thoughts are a jumbled mess, it doesn't help when you've spent time in an animal's mind as well, their languages are very different from ours as humans but they're languages all the same. Means of communicating from one creature to another."

"What does it feel like to be an animal, you can turn into bats and wolf, is there anything else?"

"I've never tried." Vlad said and Mina looked at him, stunned

"What do you mean you've never tried? I would be trying to turn into every animal I could the second I realized that I had that ability." She said and the vampire just shook his head, pulling into her parent's driveway. They both exited the car and started toward the house.

"Could you teach me Romanian?" she asked and the former prince paused in taking a step forward, suddenly flashing back to his wife and the sound of the old language on her tongue, the sweet nothings that they used to whisper to each other when they were still newlyweds, back when Mina had found out that she was with child and every morning had been filled with sunshine and laughter.

"I…" he couldn't find the words

"Vlad…?" Mina asked, taking a step toward him, her hand coming to rest on his cheek. "Are you okay?"

"I just…"

"I remind you too much of her sometimes don't I?" she asked and Vlad nodded, looking down at his hands and then back up at the woman in front of him

"I would love to teach you, but I do warn you, I'm a rough teacher." He said and Mina couldn't help but laugh and then kissed him on the cheek.

"Come on silly, let's go have dinner."

-Forever and a Day-

It wasn't the first time Vlad had met Mina's family but the first time wasn't quite as 'formal' as this, though in his mind, nothing was as formal as it used to be, though by modern standards, the home cooked meal and sit down dinner was quite formal, especially when meeting his beloved's parents. This time he felt slightly interrogated with all the questions, and this time there was no Rebecca to break up the flow and divert it to something else to let the former prince recharge.

"How long ago did your family come from Romania?" Mina's dad asked and Vlad smiled pleasantly

"My parents moved with me to England when I was fairly young, though I still know the old tongue." He said, allowing a little of his accent to creep into his voice, he was pretty good at controlling it now but sometimes it worked to his advantage to appear foreign.

"Why England?" her mother this time

"Ah, well my father's job asked him to move around a lot," that was about as far from the truth as he could get, his father rarely traveled outside his own lands and rarely from the castle as well, aside from travel between castles between seasons. But Mehmet had asked a lot of his father and the man was as close to an employer as it got with their family.

"What did he do?"

"He managed a business," the vampire lied smoothly, business, lands and people, almost the same thing right? "handling deeds and titles mostly, they needed an experienced person to manage a new asset and so we moved to England."

Dinner and afterwards progressed much the same, the vampire lying as fast as he could come up with them and committing as many of the details to memory as he could as to not contradict himself. When they finally left Mina felt herself fall back into the car seat in relief.

"I'm impressed you were able to come up with so much stuff on the fly." She said

"Me too, now help me go over it again in case they ask me about stuff that was total bullshit."

They'd reviewed all they could remember by the time they reached Vlad's home and as they stepped inside and shut the door the vampire looked at Mina with eyes full of mischief

"Well the rest of the night is ours."

"Indeed it is." She said, meeting his glance.

A/N: Okay so the smexy oneshot (that really isn't that good in my opinion cause I'm out of practice with smut…) is called A Deep Passion cause I'm unoriginal…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	32. A Mane as Soft as Silk

A/N: One… more… chapter of this and then I'm done with it until next week… seriously, I've been typing since I got home from work, and typing like a maniac cause I've got Devil May Cry fics to start tomorrow… ones that I owe fans like 10,000 words on… and I've come pretty close to that in this one, making me caught up on this one from the start of the summer, more or less. It'll feel good once I get this pumped out so let's do this!

Disclaimer: I'm an engineering co-op, at a company that builds radiators… I have so little to do with Dracula it's laughable

A Mane as Soft as Silk

The next morning found the two lounging in bed like there was nothing else in the world beyond the two of them and for a long time, that was all that mattered, that is until Mina realized that she couldn't hold off on going pee forever. She rolled out of bed with a sigh and Vlad sat up with a yawn

"Where are you going?" he asked sleepily, he gladly would have slept the rest of the day away if Mina had let him but she had pushed him off in the early morning, grumbling that he was too warm.

"The bathroom." Mina answered, yawning as she stretched, feeling a little sore but relaxed and alert. Vlad mumbled something in response and lay back down. She would've laughed if she still weren't a little sluggish herself, the man tried to act big and scary most of the time (though she knew from experience that it wasn't all an act, he could actually be intimidating if he so chose), he was more like a big puppy. The blonde relieved herself and brushed her teeth while she was at it, looking at the side of her neck as she did so. The wound was tender and would bleed if provoked too much she could tell but beyond that it didn't look too bad. It wasn't as she had expected a bite from a vampire to look like, she had expected the two evenly spaced holes like you saw in the movies and on TV but this was several more than that, a bruise circling the area as well from where he'd suckled on the wound. She dabbed a liberal amount of Neosporin on it and slapped a bandaid over the top and went back out into the room.

The very last thing she expected to find was a huge wolf laying in the bed but that was exactly what she found. Her first instinct was to look at the window to see if it was open and somehow the beast had found its way in through the second story. The closed glass left one option then.

"Vlad…?" she whispered, creeping forward, trying not to disturb the creature, it snuffed and one ear twitched but she got no other response. She looked it up and down, it was beautiful, that much was easy to see but she wasn't sure that it was the vampire or not.

"Vlad…?" she called a little louder, the wolf opened one green eye to look at her before closing it again and shuffling over a little bit on the bed. "Shit…" the blonde said, she hadn't expected Vlad to change shape in his sleep, she'd seen him do it a couple times, but only with bats, never with anything this… intimidating… she reached a hesitant hand forward and held it in front of the wolf-Vlad. He just looked at her fingers with hazy eyes before licking out with a huge pink tongue and licking them. Mina couldn't help it, she pulled her hand back with a surprised yelp. Vlad picked his head up then, looking at her in concern, big fluffy ears tilted forward.

"I'm fine…" she said "I'm just… surprised." The wolf snuffed again and lay its head down, huge tail starting to thump against the pillows as it wagged. Mina couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips.

"You are such a child." She said, reaching forward and running her hand through the soft fur and giggling as he started to lap at her like any dog would.

"Stop that!" she giggled and then in the next second she received a kiss on the cheek and her hands were in his hair rather than a fluffy mane.

"But you were laughing, why would I want to stop?" he said, pulling back to look at her with eyes that were filled with mirth. The blonde sighed and shook her head.

"You didn't tell me that you shapeshift in your sleep." She said, pretending to look angry and failing miserably at it. Vlad just smirked at her

"I don't usually, though I have found myself in the rafters a few times upon waking… usually with a particularly bad hangover though."

"So why the wolf?" she asked

"I was cold by myself." The vampire pouted, looking for all it was worth like a petulant child. Mina rolled her eyes

"I had to pee, sorry." She said sassily and stuck her tongue out, Vlad poked it and she quickly pulled it back into her mouth

"You should be." He said back with a grin, Mina ran a hand through his hair again, it was longer than hers, not that it was a hard competition there but it was so nice for guy's hair.

"Your fur is really soft." She said, and the former prince grinned, clearly enjoying the compliment.

"Thank you, I take very good care of it." He shook his head out, causing some of his hair to fall into his face.

"You know," Mina smiled "I never would have pinned Dracula as a bit of a goofball and yet here we are." Vlad just laughed

"You don't get through half a millennia without a sense of humor, and trust me, I've tried to stoic and brooding thing, it gets boring, constantly blaming yourself for all that is wrong with the world, having to hold the cross and edgy look." He made a face at her, trying to be very broody and grumpy, but the tilt at the corner of his mouth had her laughing and him joining in seconds later. She wished that this morning could go on forever and ever.

A/N: Okay, I'm very done with typing today and I've got even more to do tomorrow so I'm gonna call it quits now before I pass out on my keyboard. Btdubs, the plot should be kicking back in soon.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	33. An Irresistible Call

A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back again, *sighs* I'm gonna get the rest of my writing done for this week right here right now, alright? *trying to pump self up for this*

Disclaimer: Yeah! … *so sleepy*

An Irresistible Call

The last thing Vlad expected that evening was to bolt upright and feel a deep rooted pull in his veins. Mina, rolled over from watching the movie, blinking at him lethargically and mumbling, wondering what was wrong.

"I…" he could feel it again, as though his very blood was calling him somewhere else. He looked out the window, feeling for all the world like he was being watched. That pulse ran through him again and he jerked

"Vlad?" Mina asked now, actually concerned for the vampire's health.

"I'm fine I just…" it was exhausting to resist that call in his blood… "Just a minute, I'll be right back." Then he was gone, following the pull deep in his veins, he didn't want to leave Mina behind but something told him that she wouldn't be safe where he was going.

The vampire materialized in the woods, looking around, lost and confused. What on earth was he doing here? He suddenly was having flashbacks to that fateful day so long ago, when he had been simply wondering why there were Turks invading his land and wondering what on earth had killed them. He remembered looking up to the mountain, knowing that the water flowed from there, and in present times he turned, looking deep into the trees. The Master vampire stood there, and the pull in his veins ceased. He growled low in his throat

"What do you want?" he said, wondering what else this man could possibly want to take from him.

"You said that I was no longer welcome in your home, I'm simply respecting your wishes my young prince."

"I haven't been a prince for nearly half a millennium." The younger vampire ground out, the Master simply laughed at him, it was a deep, rumbling chuckle that made Vlad shiver

"I know but old habits die hard. Now I believe you have a promise to keep up on." The ancient being said these words slowly and Vlad felt his heart sink. He knew that someday the Master would come to collect but he always managed to push it off, he knew somewhere deep inside that this wasn't the man just toying with him, this was the real deal.

"What do you need me for?" he asked, the Master raised a brow

"I thought you were going to fight me to keep your own will." He said curiously, Vlad looked up at him

"You've kept your word for everything that we've been through, as much as I despise some of the outcomes you've told me nothing but the truth." The old man laughed again, but there was no humor in it this time, Vlad felt like he was actually seeing a bit of the man behind the monster for once, the man who had been tricked and before he'd become broken and spiteful at the world.

"Perhaps I felt that lying to my own pawn for my own amusement wouldn't actually be all that amusing." He said, softly, almost too quiet even for a vampire's keen hearing.

"I'm a man of my word." Vlad said

"Now you're lying," the Master interjected "you swore that you wouldn't hurt your wife and child and your wife died by your own hand and your son was made an orphan. Don't make promises you can't keep, they just might cost you, you ought to know this better than anyone Vladimir." The man said, glancing at him with a sly eye, Vlad met the gaze and held it

"What do you have to fight with everything you have for if you don't make promises you doubt you can keep?" Vlad said and the Master just chuckled, clearly amused with the younger vampire's ideas.

"I suppose that is true." The man's voice didn't hold the same menace that it usually did, the same indifference that it usually held. Vlad didn't quite know what to think of this.

"So, if I am your pawn, what am I to be used for?" the former prince waited a moment for the ancient being to respond. This in and of itself was a surprise, this man didn't hesitate, knew what he wanted, if life was a game what did you have to truly lose in gambling it all?

"I wish to have vengeance on the demon who tricked me, the one who caused me to spend most of my life rotting away behind the walls of an old cave. I will be free of his curse, of his torment. I wish to wander the darkness without chains." Vlad tilted his head

"What does that have to do with me?"

"I need the offering to the darkness to summon him back." The younger vampire thought back on what the priest had told him all those years ago.

"How on earth did you summon him the first time." The dark look was back in the Master's eyes

"I sacrificed my family to summon him the first time, I slit them open like pigs, shed blood upon the eastern European ground long before it was a kingdom of its own." Vlad shivered, with the regrets that he lived with, he couldn't imagine sacrificing the family that he loved, the family that he had given up his humanity to protect. The Master seemed to notice his discomfort.

"There lies our fundamental different Vladimir, you are a good man seeking redemption, and I am a bad man seeking to avoid payment for his sins. None the less we are bound together, you must serve me, you can no more avoid it than you can avoid your own thirst." The former prince frowned, he knew this, if the urge in his very blood early had anything to say about it.

"What would you have me do?"

A/N: Moving on!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	34. Darkness Unimaginable

A/N: Just another Monday night, pumping out another couple chapters… bleh, I'm way too warm from cleaning the bathroom… and drinking wine isn't going to help that… *grumbles*

Disclaimer: I own the DVD… somewhere *looks around room*

Darkness Unimaginable

Mina woke the next morning, completely alone and unsure of what was going on. Was Vlad downstairs making breakfast? She wondered as she sat up, everything seemed eerily quiet, like the house itself was sleeping. The sunlight contrasted greatly with the feeling in the bottom of her stomach, what was this…? She shook her head, she was just being silly, it was no wonder that she was having odd thoughts, she had found out not that long ago that her boyfriend was a creature of darkness, of course she would be a bit superstitious of any odd feelings afterward. The blonde swung her legs over the edge of the bed, for the briefest of seconds afraid that something would grab at her ankles, instead there was just silence and the feeling of cold wood on her toes.

"Get ahold of yourself Mina." The young woman chided herself, and the sound of her own voice in the room, although saying something about the heaviness of the air as it didn't spread, made her feel a bit better. It was like flicking on the lights when you were sure that there were monsters in the room only to find the place empty and that it was that old tree branch all along. She sighed and pulled on a robe, despite it only being herself and Vlad in the house, she still would have felt more than a little uncomfortable slipping downstairs completely naked. The blonde made her way to the kitchen, pausing for a minute in the bathroom to brush her teeth and try to tame the rats' nest that was the current condition of her hair. She sighed and gave it up as an impossible mission and descended the stairs, but strangely enough she didn't hear anything from the kitchen either, where had Vlad gotten off to? He wouldn't leave without leaving a note or telling her where he was going would he? She shook her head, no he wouldn't do that… but still… she couldn't help but wonder where on earth the man had gotten himself off to… She looked in the kitchen anyway, hoping that the vampire was just being extra quiet. No, no Vlad…j

"The library maybe…?" she whispered, unsure why she was whispering. It just felt wrong to disturb the utter silence of the house, she supposed as she padded her way to the library. The room was filled with books and stories and shelves and smelled of old leather and musty pages but the former prince wasn't in there either.

"Perhaps he just ran out to grab something and didn't think I'd be up for a while." She said, trying to comfort herself, though it did little good. It would be more than a little backwards for the vampire to be up before her unless he hadn't gone to bed last night but she knew for a fact that he had fallen asleep, she had still been stroking his hair when his breathing had slowed into that of sleep and shortly stopped altogether. The young woman ran a hand through her hair and sighed, looking around the room, well there were all these books and she _had_ wanted to explore his library…

-Forever and a Day-

Several hours later and Mina had gotten up, taken a shower, ate some food, cleaned up the kitchen and was almost finished with the book that she was reading and there still was no sign of Vlad. Finally she reached a chapter and slammed the book closed, she wasn't able to concentrate that well right now, not with the eerie feeling of the house pressing down on her. She shivered and pulled the afghan closer about herself. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore it all…

Only to wake up some unknown amount of time later to a hand lightly trying to rouse her. She shrieked and the hand lurched away, clearly startled themselves.

"Sorry…" came the whisper, Mina blearily blinked, Vlad slowly coming into focus in front of her.

"I… you…" she yawned, her senses and wits quickly coming back to her, she must've fell asleep in the library, though she wasn't quite sure how, not with how eerie it felt when it was empty.

"I'm sorry, I should've left a note…" he said, looking more than a little shaken up. Mina looked at him and raised a brow.

"Where were you?" she asked and he sighed, sitting on the arm of the chair that she was currently snuggling in.

"I… I was with the Master." He said, hanging his head and twitching his long fingers between each other.

"What?" Mina's eyes widened, why had he been with that monster? Last that Mina knew, he hated that man, he wanted nothing more than to see him cold and dead on the ground.

"It was something that I had to do, I didn't have a choice, it was a call to my very blood." Vlad said these words softly though the blonde could see the frustration in his face.

"What… what did he want?" she asked, putting a gentle hand on his own. He looked at her

"I'm so sorry love." He said and Mina made a face, she didn't like the sound of those words…

"For what?"

"That this had to happen in your lifetime…" he said, Mina waited for him to continue, he sighed again and ran a hand over his face

"The time is coming for me to fulfill my oath that I took upon receiving the dark powers that I now wield… I must become a pawn to the Master to help him in his quest for vengeance against the one who turned him into the monster that he now is. There is darkness about to fall on this world… a darkness beyond any of your nightmares…"

A/N: Yep.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	35. A Life of Solitude

A/N: So I should totally be doing homework right now but… I think I'm going to write fanfiction for the coming week first… ^^; yeah, procrastination! Plus I feel conjested and pooey so writing sounds like the much better option to environmental science…

Disclaimer: more pooey

Anna: I'm fine, just busy (but what else is new) I just don't quite know where I'm heading with this right now, so I'm just kinda treading water so to speak, so I apologize if it doesn't seem as interesting but it keeps the story going. I won't abandon it, I'm just figuring out what to push toward next, but thanks for the concern and the review!

A Life of Solitude

Mina left shortly after his revelation to her despite having another day that she could spend with him. It was at his request and in fact, the blonde had been very resistant to his suggestion to leave but he needed time to think, time to go over what had happened. He was remembering why he had changed over to a life of solitude all that time ago after losing his wife the first time. He couldn't risk hurting anyone, couldn't risk endangering them. But then his mind flashed back to the last time that he had met his dear Mina, back in the 1800s, when she had been in love with another and even promised to said person. It had buried its claws into his heart that he could not have her… he remembered the terrible acts that he had committed just to have the chance to claim her as his own, he had promised after that time, after he had started to come back to himself that he would never again lose sight of himself like that. The vampire groaned and put his head in his hands, he couldn't afford to lose himself like that again but neither could he afford to put Mina in danger by the Master's plan. The man needed a calamity to be able to summon forth the demon to this plane and Vlad didn't want his beloved anywhere near where said issue would take place… he let loose a small growl, god damn… he needed to clear his head…

-Forever and a Day-

The wind felt good as it coasted over hundreds of velvety wings, the air full of smells and sights and sounds. The world was simple to a bat, it was easy, and everything just fell into place. The vibrations that bounced back into many large cupped ears, the prey that was swallowed without a second thought… Vlad came back to himself on a large branch of a pine tree, regretting his decision as sap instantly stuck to his hands. He looked down the drop to the ground, the wind pushed cold air up into his face though he hardly noticed it. The Master had said that the calamity had to be personal, had to have value to the person attempting the summons, that's why he couldn't just use the power of calamities that happened nearly every day in this world, as Vlad had pointed out. Humans killed humans all the time, often for little reason, but according to the eyes of devils, that wasn't good enough. What on earth could the Master be planning to do, he wasn't close to anyone as far as the former prince could tell, the only person that he was remotely even in personal contact with was himself… and then Vlad thought of all the people that he had become close to throughout the years… if he were trying to create great emotional pain… he was the man's pawn and the people that he cared about… a flutter of bats took off again.

-Forever and a Day-

Mina was comfortably sitting in her sister's apartment, watching jeopardy as her sister's girlfriend fluttered about the kitchen and Rebecca offered her a glass of wine.

"So what did you fight about?" Rebecca asked with a knowing look in her eye. Mina looked up at her in surprise.

"What?"

"Come on Mina, you don't normally sigh this much, it must be guy troubles, so what did you guys fight about?" she asked, Mina sighed again, but didn't have the chance to explain as there came a furious pounding on the door. Her sister tilted her head

"Who on earth is that at this time of night…?" she wondered aloud before standing and walking to the door. Before her sister even reached it Mina felt a chill run up her spine and then her sister opened the door and Mina felt her eyes widen.

"Excuse me miss, I just moved in upstairs, I was wondering if you could possibly-" the Master didn't have time to finish his sentence before Mina slammed the door in his face. Rebecca looked at her curiously and even Jessica was leaning around the island looking at the two of them.

"What was that about?" the older of the two asked

"Don't trust him, he's not who he says he is." Mina said, she wasn't sure what else she could say. Her sister would think that she was crazy if she tried to explain the truth…

"Miss?" came the smooth, ancient voice from outside "Is everything alright." Rebecca tried to push past her sister to open the door but Mina stood fast, blocking the way.

"Come on Mina, who is that? Just let me open the door, I'm sure he'll be fine, he's just an old man, he's not going to hurt anyone." The brunette hissed, Mina shook her head

"You can't." she said, not even trying to lower her voice, she knew that the Master would be able to hear them either way.

"What's going on?" Jessica asked

"Mina, let me open the door."

"You can't, you don't know what he'll do."

"Mina,"

"Rebecca listen to your sister." This was a different voice in the room now and Jessica let out a small 'eep!' at the intruder. Rebecca turned around in surprise to see her sister's boyfriend standing in the middle of the room.

A/N: Mwuhahahahaha! I think I know where this is pushing to now!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	36. Revelations

A/N: So I'm going to reiterate what I pointed out in the last chapter I was typing. Window 10 is a piece of shit. It doesn't ask, doesn't warn you when it's going to do updates so when you're three quarters of the way through a chapter it just shuts down and updates and then word doesn't create a backup file so you lose all of it. _All of it_. I'm so pissed. So now I just have to retype this entire chapter. Hopefully without fucking up. *grumbles extremely angrily*

Disclaimer: F** that.

Revelations

Rebecca turned around suddenly, not expecting to hear another person in the room, least of all her sister's boyfriend to be standing there. She looked back to her sister and then to the door.

"Miss?" there came another couple of knocks "Is everything alright in there?" he asked

"Mina." Rebecca hissed and Mina just shook her head. She heard Jess whisper from the kitchen

"He just… appeared…" she looked to her girlfriend to see the older blonde looking almost terrified at Vlad. She looked to the man

"Why can't I open the door?" she asked flatly, things were going to chaos and the brunette didn't appreciate any of it.

"Please just trust me that you can't let that man in. It is of the utmost importance.

"Miss please just open the door." The voice of the old man sounded a little bit more commanding now. Rebecca looked over at the closed door suspiciously

"Rebecca please." The pounding became a little more intense and a sound came from Vlad just then that set her teeth on edge. She looked at him, heard her girlfriend start to sound truly panicked then, could a person even make such a noise…? She wondered, the noise was replicated on the other side of the door, making the brunette wonder. That sound, however, did make up her mind on the door. She called politely through the wood

"I'm sorry sir, now's not a good time, you'll have to come back tomorrow." The sound came again, from both Vlad and the other side of the door and then the knocking stopped, Rebeca turned around, Mina did her best to stay out of her sister's gaze but that was nearly impossible when it came to the older sibling. She looked with concern to her girlfriend in the kitchen, who seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. Vlad followed her gaze and walked over to the older blonde. Jessica took several steps back from him but he put a hand on her shoulder and then her eyes met his. Rebecca was about to go stop him when Jessica froze.

"Jessica? It is Jessica isn't it?" Vlad's voice was soft and smooth as silk. Rebecca wasn't quite sure what was happening, Jess wasn't usually one to be easily calmed when she was worked up but here Vlad had her like a snake charmer to the snake. Jessica nodded dumbly

"I just need you to take some deep breaths and calm down, can you do that for me?"

"Yes." Jessica's voice was flat and emotionless

"Good. Just focus on what you were doing before this all happened, I'm sure the food with turn out great." With that he let go of the blonde's shoulder and she turned back to preparing the mozzarella sticks she'd been working on before. Rebecca opened and closed her mouth, completely flabbergasted.

"Vlad." Mina's tone was disapproving "You shouldn't have done that." The man just shrugged

"It was needed, she was going to have a panic attack."

"It was freaky, just please, don't do that again." Vlad sighed

"I'll try not to." All the while Rebecca kept up her impersonation of a fish out of water.

"What the _hell_ was that?!" she demanded "And how did you get in here, and what the hell was with the guy at the door?" Mina sighed and Vlad just looked worried

"Rebecca," her sister started

"No. Both of you sit down now, you're not going anywhere till I get some answers." Mina looked at Vlad

"This is your secret." She said and the man nodded, sitting down on the couch, looking for all the world like a lounging tiger, full of grace and beauty and power, ready to strike in an instant.

"What do you want to know?" he asked calmly, as though the events of the past couple minutes had not, in fact, just happened.

"What did you do to my girlfriend?" Rebecca growled out

"I _suggested_ that she calm down and go back to the task that had been so rudely interrupted." He said

"You suggested." The brunette said flatly "What are you a hypnotist now?" she asked and Vlad made a face

"Not really."

"And what's with the man at the door, why couldn't I answer it, it was just a little old man…" she trailed off when she saw both Vlad and Mina shaking their heads. "Are you some government agent with super high tech gadgets and stuff?" she asked her sister's boyfriend, it was the first plausible idea that had jumped into her head. Vlad wrinkled his brows and Mina started laughing.

"No." the man said "I don't think that could be farther from the truth." He said, it was amusing but he didn't think it was quite as funny as Mina seemed to.

"Jess said you just appeared, how did you get in?" Vlad sighed then and then looked her straight in the eyes. She was surprised, his eyes seemed to hold a lot more depth and age to them than she anticipated

"Through the window." He said

"It's locked…" Rebecca said slowly, looking over at it just to be sure. She looked back at Vlad and the last thing she anticipated was to see the man disappear in a cloud of mist and reappear in standing in front of her.

"Through the window." He said again.

A/N: Vlad I know you need to tell her but you're so cheeky! Welp it's done now, I swear if word crashes or something…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	37. Spooked

A/N: Okay, so we're going to give my laptop another chance… *grumbles slightly* hopefully it won't be a useless piece of work that it has been for… well ever… anywho, I'm gonna get a good start on things and hopefully get through a bunch of stuff today. After fanfics I've got a bunch of homework but none due tomorrow thank goodness ^^; Sorry just organizing my thoughts.

Disclaimer: As cool as he is, I don't have any claim to Dracula

Spooked

Rebecca reeled back, startled beyond all belief, Vlad smirked a little bit, she should be afraid, that was a good reaction, that was how people should respond to him. Though he could practically _feel_ Mina's disapproving glare on the back of his head. It just reminded him of the disapproving and sympathetic look his wife had given him all that time ago when he had told her what he'd done just to be able to save their people.

"Wh-what?" the brunette stammered, her hand over heart, Vlad sighed and thought of the one thing that would confirm what he was sure was running through the older sister's head. He let some of his instincts ride to the front of his mind, allowing them to rule his thoughts and then he lifted a lip, baring a single glossy white fang. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, burying the monstrous instincts again behind the mask of a perfect gentleman.

"What do you think?" he asked a second later when he was in perfect control again.

"You… you're…" Rebecca let out a tiny giggle, feeling not so in control of herself anymore, she looked back to Jessica again, who was still putzing around in the kitchen as though nothing had happened. "This can't be real…" Mina put a hand on her sister's arm, and the older of the two jumped, feeling nervous as instincts long buried in the human mind came to the front after being exposed to a predator that was very real and very dangerous.

"Rebecca, this is very real. Vlad, he-." The brunette blinked at the name and then met eyes with the former prince

"Wait. You're not just a vampire are you, Vlad, as in Vlad the impaler?" she said this accusingly. The vampire sighed

"That was a long time ago." He said, Rebecca took a step back, giving another weak laugh.

"Oh god, you… you are…" Vlad sat down, running a hand through his hair and trying to seem as unimposing as possible.

"Rebecca, it doesn't matter right now, what you need to know is that…" he didn't get to finish his sentence

"How on earth does it not matter?!" she said

"Rebecca, sit down." Mina said sternly, trying and failing to push her sister into a chair.

"Mina, how can you just be so casual about all of this?! He's… he could eat you!" Mina laughed a little

"He could but he won't. I'm too important to him, he came here to protect us." She turned to Vlad then, the vampire looking up at her and knowing what was coming

"Why was the Master here?" she asked and Vlad folded his hands together, trying to organize his thoughts and figure out where to begin.

"You know that I owe the Master, yes? It was part of the bargain struck when I accepted his powers." Mina nodded and then Rebecca stomped between the couple.

"Are we going to just ignore the fact that he's a vampire?!" she demanded "Not just any vampire either, but the most well known one of all time?!" Vlad stood up then and Mina peeked around her sister

"Please don't hypnotize my sister." She said sternly, Vlad grinned a little bit.

"I'm not going to, although that would make things easier," he turned his attention back to the brunette "Rebecca, I have no problem answering your questions but right now there's something that you and your sister need to understand, you need to know how much danger you're in right now."

"Because of you." Rebecca accused. Vlad sighed

"Yes, but that's beyond the point right now."

"How is that beyond the point?! If all of this is your fault, why did you get involved with my sister?" Vlad's eyes hardened for a second and then he let his shoulders drop, slightly defeated.

"Imagine for a moment that you met the love of your life, and it was your fault that they departed from this world, and then… years and years and years down the road, you see the very same soul that you fell for all that time ago, you would try to make them come back to you by any means necessary, and when that fails and they depart from this world once more… and the universe decides to give you yet another chance…" he looked over at Mina "You can't help yourself, you have to try again, you yearn for that love that you had… the opportunity to do it all over again… I won't let anything happen to you this time."

"Wait, wait," Rebecca was struggling to remember the stories she knew of this man, though the truthfulness of them was certainly up for debate. "Are you talking about _reincarnation?_" Vlad nodded, as though it were a simple thing, as though that didn't sound as crazy as Rebecca thought, she started laughing then, it was just too much for her, the idea that her sister was some reincarnation of some former lover of Vlad the Impaler was just way to crazy.

"I have to be dreaming…" she said, falling back on a chair, her legs starting to feel a bit like jello.

"This is no dream." Mina said gently to her sister

"It has to be…"

A/N: Poor Rebecca, I'm trying really hard to give her a reasonable reaction to the whole scenario that is playing out in front of her. It can't be easy to suddenly have all this unbelievable information laid on top of you with now warning…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	38. Confrontation

A/N: Wow, I just reread the last chapter and I have to say that I don't really remember like any of that… So there's that… Well let's see how this chapter goes, oh and just as fair warning, this story is starting to approach its end, there's only going to be a handful of chapters left.

Disclaimer: For the last (not really) time, I don't own any part of this.

Confrontation

Vlad barely started forward in enough time to catch Mina's sister, laying her down on the couch as her eyes fluttered.

"Rebecca?" Mina said, fanning her sister with her hands and trying to get the brunette's attention.

"I… I don't know if I can do this Mina…" she said slowly, trying to get a grip on the reality of this situation, she had always been a very logical person, if a bit whimsical, this, magic and monsters, it was too much for her to handle at the drop of a hat.

"Yes you can, you're the toughest person I know, a lot tougher than me, if I can wrap my head around it, so can you." Vlad stood back a bit, trying to give the duo some space. The older of the two was having a hard time with all of this and though it was hard for the former prince to sympathize he could feel for her. She'd just had her entire world flipped on its head. At least when he'd gone to confront the Master, he knew that monsters and magic were a very, very real part of this world. People were more accepting of what was in front of them back then. Nowadays you had to have irrefutable proof of what you were trying to pitch. Instead his thoughts trailed back to the Master, the man had seemed like an honest person in those couple of moments when he had been trying to tell Vlad what needed to happen, that this monstrous devil needed to be summoned, and defeated. Easy concept, sure, maybe hard to put into practice but the idea was simple enough.

The vampire sighed and looked down at his hands. He hadn't thought that the Master was going to trip up and destroy everything that Vlad was trying to build for himself, that this monster was going to sacrifice not connections that he had made but ones that Vlad had made for himself. Vlad was his pawn because he was the one with human connections, emotional attachments that could be thrown away for little more than payment. He clenched his fists as he thought about the whole thing, how dare that monster…? He froze then when the call in his blood flared up like never before. He swore every fiber of his being locked up in that moment. He looked up at Mina and her sister, who were still conversing softly, though Rebecca looked a bit more stable now.

"_Come now my pawn… you didn't think it would be that easy did you?" _the voice rang in his head, bouncing between his ears loudly. Vlad growled loudly, both women on the couch turning to look at him. _"It wouldn't mean nearly as much if I did it, the sacrifice is your job_." Vlad's eyes widened in horror as the voice of the ancient monster echoed in his mind again.

"Mina…" he choked out, feeling the hunger in his belly spike and snarl to life with a vengeance that he was sure that he hadn't felt in centuries. The blonde was watching him closely, though when he said her name she leapt to her feet, putting a hand to his face

"Vlad what's wrong?" she asked and the former prince snarled again, baring long fangs as his chest rumbled.

"Mina… get your sister and get out…" he ground out, trying to resist the savage instincts that were being pushed to the front of his psyche.

"Vlad?" her voice was questioning and at the same time so very far away, so small against the throbbing beat of her heart.

"I can't…" he ground out, a small whine working its way from the back of his throat as he continued to try to resist the monster inside of himself.

-Forever and a Day-

Mina didn't know what was going on. Vlad looked like he was about to break down or lose his mind, she wasn't quite sure which… the man looked more like the monster he said he was instead of the man she had come to know underneath. His eyes were dark and his fangs were bared directly at her.

"Get. Out." He growled, barely intelligible at this point. Mina didn't know why this was happening but she did know that she had to get her sister to safety. She backed up slowly, keeping her eyes on the man in front of her. Vlad shivered, his whole body rippling and seconds later his wolfish form stood growling, hackles raised and muzzle wrinkled into a snarl.

"Rebecca." Mina said softly, her eyes never leaving the animal in front of her, if she looked away he would pounce. Adrenaline pumped so thickly in her veins that she was sure that she heard her sister's breathing pick up. "Get up. Slowly. Get Jessica." She could hear Rebecca moving off the couch and Vlad snarled again, his ears flattening against his skull.

"Vlad… it's okay…" Mina whispered, trying to take the wolf's attention off of her sister and maybe to calm him a little, she didn't know what was going on but it wasn't good. She felt a hand touch hers and she started to back away from the massive animal and it matched her step for step.

"On the count of three, we go through the door and into my place, okay?" there was a light squeeze in her fingertips in confirmation.

"One… Two…"

A/N: :) I am so much of an evil person and I love it. Either way, this was a blast to write

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	39. Chase

A/N: Man… this looks so weird… I'm typing on the computer in the computer lab right now cause I can't find a plug for my laptop and this is the warmest room in the building and I'm cold ^^; So yeah, that's what's going on with that… time to get going huh?

Disclaimer: I don't even own the computer I'm typing on right now.

Chase

There was a thud as the massive wolf hit the sturdy door, it rattled in its frame and Mina quickly pulled her sister and Jess through the next door and slammed it shut, locking it. Just in enough time as they heard the other door rattle again, a creaking sound accompanying it as it started to break. Every hair on Mina's body stood straight up as she heard the howl erupt from across the hall.

"What was that?" Rebecca asked, looking at her sister with wide terrified eyes.

"I don't know, but we have to keep moving, the door won't hold him for long and he can come in here. We need a place that he's never been before…"

"That door won't hold him?" the brunette asked, sounding slightly hysterical, Mina gave her sister a rather flat look as she grabbed her hand and led her to the window and the fire escape just outside.

"Of course it won't, Becca, we're dealing with one of the most famous monsters of all time, you think slamming a door in his face will stop him?" she asked as she helped Jessica through the window. The older blonde had been extremely quiet the entire time, probably still under the effects of hypnosis, Mina theorized, she'd never seen it in action, she didn't know how long it lasted. Becca had climbed through the window after her girlfriend and when Mina looked back at the door she swore when seeing the mist seeping under the bottom.

"Becca, faster, we don't have time for this…" her sister edged through and Mina followed as quickly as she could, turning and slamming the window closed again as the flurry of bats rushed forward into the glass. "Go!" the trio scrambled down the ladder as quickly as they could, praying that they wouldn't get caught on the way down.

"Mina where are we going?!" Rebecca called as they started down the street.

"Your coworker Chase's house. It's close and Vlad won't be able to follow us inside." She said quickly, the ground cold on her bare feet. Rebecca didn't question her further but then stopped suddenly as her girlfriend stopped walking, letting go of her hand.

"Jessica?" Rebecca turned around to see the older blonde standing and staring blankly into the distance, she turned, looking back the way they had come, taking slow, but sure steps back in that direction.

"Jessica what are you doing?" Mina questioned, a loud, resounding growl answered her and she shivered, the sound sending a shock of fear right into her stomach.

"Rebecca, grab her we need to go now!" there was a flutter and Mina stopped when Vlad appeared right in front of her, a wicked grin on his face.

"Where do you think you're going little bird?" he asked, his accent thick in his voice. Mina's face hardened and she raised a hand to slap him. He caught it easily and smirked, baring a single fang in her direction. He leaned forward into her ear and whispered

"You're so much feistier than in the past…" he inhaled, taking in her scent when he did and the blonde shivered uncomfortably as he did.

"Vlad. Let me go, this isn't you…" she said, a chuckle answered her instead

"You may have been right in the past my dear sweet Mirena, but I have been so far from that man for so long… You see little more that the façade that has been built up over centuries. _This. This _is _who I am._" The grip on her wrist had become painful. She swallowed, looking at the monster that stood before her and just hoped that her sister and girlfriend had made it out away from this nightmare. The sounds of her sister still pleading with Jessica though meant that they hadn't… took a deep breath and then tilted her head back, baring her throat to the man before her. He chuckled and leaned forward to whisper in her ear once more.

"You offer this to me willingly…?" He buried his nose in the crook of her neck "You have no idea how much you tempt me…" Mina winced when something warm and wet dragged across her neck.

"Just do it and get it over with." She snapped at him, earning herself another dark laugh just before

"As you wish." And then pain flared in her neck as he bit down harshly, she put a hand on the back of his neck, just as she had done in the past, she moved her head slightly, despite his reaction of clenching down harder on the tender flesh between her neck and shoulder.

"It's not your fault." She whispered to him, feeling him grab her tighter after the words registered. Mina sighed in relief when she heard her sister's footsteps passing her by, at the very least she would be safe. She closed her eyes, she was getting so tired…

A/N: Hooo… well that was dramatic and this chapter is going to be a little bit shy of my normal word count but… well I've got a ton left to do today so I'm going to have to move on… plus that was just too perfect of a stopping point. Also, this story is on the wind down, there'll probably only be a handful of chapters left, just so you people aren't surprised when I wrap things up, I need to move on to other projects and still have time for my own life and the general craziness that accompanies it… so yeah

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	40. Realizations

A/N: Here we go again, typing outside the classroom on my iPad, I had homework that I slacked off on so I might not be able to finish this before class as I usually do, I might be typing things in a bit of an odd order today ^^; that's what I get for not doing some of my homework until the day it's due... Yeah... I'm not the smartest sometimes... Anywho, I'm gonna try to get back on top of things here... ^^;

Disclaimer: Even after like two years, I still don't own Dracula, big surprise, I know

Guest: Shh! Just read, it'll all be okay! Thanks for the review!

Realizations

Vlad wasn't aware of the world around him, the only thing that existed was the warmth that satisfied his hunger, the blood flowing down his throat, the pounding of veins around his fangs. He pulled his head back from his prey to catch his breath, and then. And then... The fog lifted from his mind and he really looked at the being in his arms. His stomach clenched, and the past blurred with the present as he looked at the body in his arms. He wasn't sure in that moment if he was remembering what had happened more than half a millennium ago or if he was seeing with his eyes in the present the resemblance was so striking. Then he caught notice of the tiniest rise and fall of Mina's chest and realized that he hadn't yanked the life away from his lover once again, not yet anyway. He gave a small gasping sort of breath and slowly slid her to the ground, where she made the smallest of noises.

"Mina?!" Vlad said urgently, praying to all the gods he could think of that this was not a repeat of the past. Her eyelids fluttered, he had to take her to the hospital, he had to _do _something but he felt frozen in time in that moment, he couldn't think, couldn't act, all he could do was stare and hope. Her eyes opened slightly, unfocused and looking toward the sky.

"Vlad...?" she mumbled and the former prince took hold of her hand instantly.

"I'm right here." the shocking pull of his blood called to him again and he shoved it back down viciously, the scene before his eyes proof enough that he couldn't give in to that pull again. "I'm going to take you to the hospital, you're badly hurt." he lifted her slowly, shifting the hood on her sweater to try and soak up some of the blood that was still leaking from the wound on her neck. She was in pain and he couldn't stand to see her this way, the worst part was, it was his fault that she was this way.

"What's..." she trailed off as she slipped into unconsciousness again, and Vlad felt his chest constrict in worry and he sped up his pace, nearly flying to the nearest hospital, keeping his form from disintegrating into a flurry of wings by force of will alone. Arriving at the hospital was another story all together, he was covered in his love's blood and still looked more wild beast than man in that moment, he needed to calm down but this was his Mina, he wasn't going to lose her again, he had promised himself that he couldn't possibly lose her again. The force of his mind and will quelled over the questions that the receptionist wanted to ask within moments. He knew that Mina would be displeased when she found out that he had to hypnotize several people to keep the questions at bay but this was her life on the line... As soon as they took Mina back to start on an emergency blood transfusion and to patch up the horrible mess that was the side of her neck they had tried to stop Vlad from coming in. A glare and a pressed suggestion at the man ended that quickly enough.

Now he just watched from the side of the room, hoping and praying that she would make it through this ordeal in one piece. The back of his mind reminded him that he could just turn her and it would save her, but he shook off that suggestion and took a deep breath, the smell of blood and chemicals strong on the air. The second he relaxed the pull the Master had on his blood leapt up again, trying to take him over and cause chaos all over again. That monster hadn't sensed his utter despair at losing his lover once again and was trying to force the scenario to occur. He growled and ignored it, drawing a few glances from the wary doctors, they were under his hypnosis but as little as possible as he didn't want to make them lose their focus on the task at hand. They had to be able to save his Mina... They had to...

-Forever and a Day-

Mina didn't know what time it was when she woke up, the memories of previous events flashing through her mind as she lay upon the bed, wondering how she was waking up at all. Not to mention, nothing hurt, everything was pleasantly numb at this moment in fact... She opened her eyes and saw Rebecca up in her face with a worried expression.

"Mina! Oh my god! I thought you were a goner! Thank god you're okay! I thought that when he..." She looked around the room "when he bit you that you were dead..." Mina focused on the room a little bit more

"Where is Vlad?" Her sister made a face

"Not here, I'm not letting that thing hurt you Mina." The blonde looked at her sister in surprise before noticing a tiny black bat hanging from the corner of the room. It shuffled a bit when she looked at it and she smiled

A/N: That's all for now, I'm betting like three more chapters? Maybe four, maybe two, we'll see

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	41. Clash of Beasts

A/N: In the comp lab again, I don't feel like I got a break this weekend… I had so much shit to do… *grumbles* I am not a happy Leigh right now, I still have way too much to do and not enough time to do it… either way I'll just type some fanfiction and forget the world right now ^^;

Disclaimer: Only a couple chapters till the end and you guys still need this?

Guest: Isn't he though? :) Thanks for the review!

Clash of Beasts

The shaggy wolf snarled at the ancient monster in front of it, it wasn't going to stand for any more bloodshed on this beings' behalf. The monster smiled

"My dear Vlad, what on earth do you think you're going to do? The process is already started in motion." The monster looked up to the sky and the darkening clouds that swirled overhead, the wolf glanced that way and huffed, it's hackles still raised.

"You're not fooling anyone, you have not the power to defeat me, I am the one who made you, the one who guided you into the monster that you are now. You can never hope to conquer me." The man had raised a lip then, snarling ever so slightly, Vlad grinned inwardly, he needed the man to lose his composure, to let loose the monster within and then, maybe then, he might have a chance. He had come to realize that he was never going to be able to be happy with Mina until this monster was dead. The looming threat of having their deal acted upon was too much of a hazard for the young human woman, he couldn't risk her getting hurt… He snarled and snapped at the monster and the clouds overhead grew ever darker, preparing to let loose a storm the likes of which had never been seen before by any mortal eyes that roamed the planet. All the while two monsters faced off beneath it, ready to kill for their goals.

-Forever and a Day-

"Mina! You shouldn't be trying to get up yet!" her sister said, trying to push the blonde back down onto the bed, said blonde shook off the attempts and rose slowly but steadily to her feet. The bat in the corner had disappeared, that could only mean that Vlad had called it back, had need of it, she didn't know how it affected Vlad to have himself in separate parts but it couldn't be easy. She wanted to believe that he just thought she was safe and didn't think he needed to keep watching her but one look out the window at the threatening storm that gathered above was enough for her to believe that something was truly wrong.

"I'm fine Rebecca." Mina argued, pushing her sister away.

"You are not! Do you know how much blood you lost?! You can't just run out there like I know you want to! This isn't something for us. This is something that has to be sorted out by the monsters who created the problem." The older sibling snapped, Mina glared at her sister

"He's in trouble Becca."

"He nearly killed you!" Rebecca was nearly shouting now but she couldn't help it, her sister was such an idiot, how could she think that she could just run out in front of a monster like that, a beast really, with more capacity to kill than many of the natural creatures that roamed this earth. The brunette was recalling the sound of the wolf's howl that had chilled her to the very bone, she wasn't sure if there would ever be a moment that she'd be so afraid ever again.

"Becca, that wasn't his fault, it's not his fault what he is, he can't help it any more than you can help loving Jess, so please, just let me go, just let me do this."

"It's not going to be my fault when you get yourself killed." Rebecca said quietly, looking down at the bedsheets." Mina hugged her sister tightly, wondering if she'd ever see the brunette again. She shook her head and then stood, touching the wall to keep her balance and tried to figure the best way out of this predicament.

-Forever and a Day-

Vlad started his charge forward, claws clicking against the pavement as he dashed for the ancient being. They met in the middle, the man becoming an old, vicious looking wolf mid leap and tackling the smaller hound to the ground where they snarled and bit at one another's throats, trying to gain the upper hand. At some point they had shifted back to a two legged form, not that it made much difference to the pair, they still snarled and bit like beasts. The Master got in a really good swipe and took out a chunk of the younger's side. Vlad howled, disappearing and reappearing a short distance away. The Master flicked the blood from his hands

"Come now my pawn, you know you can't win this, you are of my blood and my creation, you cannot hope to defeat your own master." Vlad sneered, spitting out a mouthful of his own blood, his body was trying to heal but the fight was already starting to take its toll as his side slowly started to stitch together.

"What's the point of all this then?" he shouted, gesturing to the sky above them which crackled with power, he knew it still had more ritual, he hadn't completed the sacrifice, there wasn't enough power for the demon to enter this realm. The Master grinned

"A gamble, one with my very existence on the line, the best kind." Vlad coughed and shook his head, and then footsteps interrupted his next thoughts, he turned and saw a blonde head coming slowly toward them and his eyes widened in horror.

"Mina no…"

A/N: I am the most evil person, I know, but it's fun. Also the next chapter I can just about guarantee is the last one.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	42. Kiss of Eternity

A/N: Here I go, back in the computer lab, trying to keep on top of things, cause this weekend is Youma and I can't afford to have homework to do while I'm there, I don't need to have extra stuff to do, so I'm gonna have a big push to try and get ahead of stuff tonight, which means I need to be super on top of things during the day here. Also! Today is spoop day! Also known as Halloween! It won't be when I post this but I hope that everyone has a wonderful and exciting Halloween!

Disclaimer: Still no owns, I'm sorry

Alex: I'm glad you like it so much, thanks for the review!

Kiss of Eternity

The Master grinned, knowing that he had an upper hand now, his pawn was going to be distracted trying to save one miserable human being.

"What will you do now little prince?" the monster sneered and Vlad snarled, he could _feel_ the ancient being trying to push on his blood, trying to force him back into the beast that he had submitted to not that long ago. He resisted, the smell of Mina's blood both encouraging and driving him further into the beast, he didn't know what to do… he couldn't risk harming her again… why had she come here…? He snarled at the Master again.

"I will _not_ hurt her again. You have no power over me when it comes to my heart, my love for her lasts longer than the control that you hold over me!" he snapped. The Master growled back, frustrated that his pawn would not do his bidding this time.

"If you will not do the deed then you leave me no choice." The Master vanished in a flash of mist and appeared next to the blonde who looked more startled than ever. Vlad knew the monster's intent before he even vanished and was on his way over to her already. But the ancient being was more powerful and faster than he, he reappeared next to Mina and had his claws around her throat.

Mina was frozen in fear, even if she hadn't been, the old, gnarled fingers latched around her neck would have been enough to stop her. She could smell blood and a musty, old smell on the vampire in front of her, he gave a sick simile of a smile in her direction and she shivered.

"Do you prefer I just strangle you or do you want a quicker method?" he asked softly, flicking one hand behind him and shoving Vlad off his feet before he could rescue her. The young woman summoned all the strength she could and spat at him.

"Go to hell." She ground out with the air she had left, the surprise on his face making it worth it. She could see Vlad approaching again, ready to strike out once more. But before he could there was a pain in her throat and she collapsed to the ground, feeling the life pouring out of her.

Vlad couldn't make it in time, Mina was on the ground and the blood was pouring out of her throat and a pace that he couldn't begin to hope to stop. He cried out, and then glared daggers at the Master, launching himself at the monster, tackling the other man as he laughed

"That's it my pawn, let the rage overtake you! Let it consume you!" Whatever else he had been about to say was cut off when Vlad tore his heart from his chest, crushing it between his hands. He turned back to his lover who was lying on the on the cold ground again for the second time in too short a time period. This time though… he gently scooped her into his arms. There was a weak croak from her and the tiniest of twitches in her limbs. There was no way to get her to help in time… but maybe… just maybe… the former prince bit down on his own wrist, drawing some of the blood into his mouth, he hoped it was enough, he hadn't tried to create another of his own kind for several centuries… He paused and looked into the blonde's face, he hoped that she wouldn't blame him for this… He couldn't stand to lose her again though… He pressed his lips to hers, holding her chin steady and mouth open, he felt her swallow weakly against his hand and then again, and again… each one stronger than the last. Vlad took this as a good sign and pulled away from her to catch his breath. Mina was coughing and he could hear her heart beat erratically.

"Vlad… what…"

"Shhh…" Vlad ran a hand through her hair "Just close your eyes and relax…" Mina did as she was told and he watched her breathing steady out and then just stop all together, now he just had to wait and hope for the best.

He looked up to the clouds and could see the storm was still roiling above but it hadn't gotten any worse. The former prince hoped that the spell would wear itself out shortly and dissipate, he tried to calm his own emotional state, knowing that he was still connected to the spell that the Master had tried to set up. Speaking of the old worm… he looked and saw the body slowly twitching. How could that thing still…? He walked over to the body calmly and clasped the wrinkled old jaw under one hand and a shoulder under the other, took a deep breath and then pulled. He dropped the pieces to the ground, knowing that he'd still have to burn them later and scatter them. But for now… he looked back to Mina who lay on the ground, he picked her up and carried her slowly and carefully to his home, she would be safe there until she awoke. He had to believe that she would awaken, he wasn't sure that he could go on if she didn't.

A short time later and the Master had been taken care of once and for all, although the reality that he was gone had still to set in for the other vampire. He reappeared in his room in a flurry of wings to see Mina looking around the room scared but alive. He smiled softly

"Come my love, there's a lot for you to learn."

A/N: Okay so I might write an epilogue but this is really the end of the action…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


End file.
